LES MUSICIENS 2005
by DanteVirgil09
Summary: Part one of ARC ONE. Two groups of teenagers now must live amongst each other while handling feelings of mistrust, adjustment, and searching for hope in a world more than what is black and white. Read The Enlightening Music and Four Walls for background.
1. Author's Note

**NOTE: To all readers and writers of Evangelion, Danny Phantom and Ben 10**

**This will not be a clichéd superhero story where the heroes and OCs come together for heroic destiny. However, this will be a journey for everyone involved. The heroes, the musicians, and with six musicians must come to terms with the pasts that have for better and through worse have defined them as people with abilities.**

**The EVA story as well as parts two and three to the trilogy serve as movements in a concerto that's been in the works from mental images down to paper two years prior to this post. Again with this massive undertaking music will play an important role in assisting in painting a portrait for the mind's eye on where and when the story takes place. Music defines the background and one's reality, as much as friends and assholes.**

**I'm not a great writer, but I am a young ambitious man who is fond of art, music, religion (artistically speaking) and the human condition that comprises a complex mosaic. A mosaic that I fear may be too vast to accomplish in what limited time I have, but with the memories and obsessions from childhood backing me the whole way, it would be foolish to leave this venture half accomplished. **

**In continuation with what I said about music's role in this story, 2005 is modeled as a concerto. For those who don't know, a piece of music divided in three movements. For my work, music serves as the voice that inspires the text rather than be put as background for certain moments as it does in films. In this case, the first voice is the piece called "Way Up" composed by Gustavo Santaolalla. The second voice is "Do We Lose 21 Grams" from the 21 GRAMS soundtrack. The third voice is "Coyita" also composed by Gustavo Santaolalla.**

**These pieces work for 2005 because they revolve around themes I want to continue to explore from my earlier attempts in THE ENLIGHTENING MUSIC and FOUR WALLS: redemption, loss, guilt, love, hope, and spiritual sensitivity (awareness of the world and self).**

**Another note I would like to make, whatever you're raised as; Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Taoist, Hindu, Sikh, Santoria, Voodoo, Candomble, or even atheist. Whatever background you leave behind as you age, your childhood remains with you and that defines your outlook on life. Speaking from personal experience, I'm an agnostic with traces of my Catholic upbringing. It stays with you, no matter what you say or do.**

**I won't promise this crossover will be the greatest out there, but I can promise that this story will be the best I can make it. All three arcs went through many revisions before I decided on the final outlines. Stripped down to reveal the visceral world the teenagers' experience. At times hard and harsh, but can also be beautiful and heartbreaking.**

"**The soul to know itself must gaze into a soul"**

**-Anonymous Greek thinker-**


	2. January 2005 part one

**LES MUSICIENS**

**2005**

**A crossover story**

**This chapter is largely inspired by the piece "****Way Up****" composed by Gustavo Santaolalla, also partially inspired by "Pajaros" also by Gustavo Santaolalla.**

The ground shook violently, the ice threatened to crack open and swallow everyone in the vicinity. Danny held on to his family, as did his friends to theirs. The vibration subsided a bit, but there was still a rumble and then after a few minutes a bean of light shot up towards space violently. As if the mountains in the distance were going to collapse. After the light shot up to the atmosphere, electro-magnetically charged waves of air reverberated and spread out in all directions, not dissipating in the least.

Danny noticed three pinpoints of light shooting up for the sky. Everyone, including the scientists crouched to the ground and covered their heads. After the initial drama, everyone headed for the mountains. The families got in a few all-terrain vehicles and headed for the valley that led them to a vast plain that existed behind the mountains. After 10 minutes passed, they finally reached the ice plain. The Turkish team also sent their helicopter team to fly ahead of them to get a bird's eye view of the area.

Everyone in their vehicles noticed three figures on the ice and noticed one of them was a 14-year old boy waving his arms around, yelling in Japanese. But with the superficial words aside, his blood stained shirt and his friends in similar condition told everything.

They rushed over to the three teens and carried their bodies and their belongings onto one of the helicopters. The American families went on board where the three traumatized teens were. On their flight to a aircraft carrier near the Ross Sea, Danny and his friends watched as the Japanese boy walked the redheaded girl and caressed her head and before he returned to his seat, his other friend grasped his hand in an impromptu handshake. The Japanese boy in their eyes was far more composed than he should be, but at the moment cannot comprehend the emotions that were boiling just underneath his now relaxed expression as he slept the trip away.

The Americans looked at the subtle scene, not knowing what to say or even, what to expect in the next 20 hours from Victoria Land, Antarctica to Istanbul, Turkey. But knew it's a journey of not on the miles stretching between oceans but on the walls that separated themselves from each other and their pasts.

"What the hell just happened," Danny muttered to himself.

**Chapter One**

**January 2005, week one**

**9:45am**

Shinji opened his eyes and found himself in a familiar setting: a hospital room. But this time, he noticed two other beds beside his own and a few empty ones at the room's other end. Beside him were Asuka and Dante, bandaged up and their limbs attached to IV machines. He also noticed signs on the walls in a language he couldn't understand. It was far different from German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. He got up and walked to the window with his IV machine attached. He looked out the room-sized window that stretched from floor to ceiling. He noticed traffic in the streets below, the two gigantic mosques in the distance, one more ornate than the other and above all, he noticed billboards across the street, celebrating the new year…but the year posted brought a new wave of confusion and the decision he made during his time in that place between life and death.

"2005? What the hell," **_(__2005__？一体何？_**_**)**,_he then heard groaning coming from Asuka's bed. He walked briskly to her side, "Asuka…please…please be all right," **_(__アスカは__...__、大丈夫だプリーズ__)_** he muttered quietly so that she wouldn't hear him.

She opened her eyes and noticed Shinji over her with his eyes closed and his hands together in an impromptu prayer-like gesture. She lifted her left arm, noticing the IV tubes and began to caress Shinji's hair in circular motions. He opened his eyes and his body tensed, he looked at Asuka who looked so exhausted…not the girl who fought so hard against the Mass Produced EVAs.

"How are you Asuka," **_(__どのように飛鳥のですか？__)_** he asked the obvious question and she just gave a weak chuckle, "Stupid. How do I look like," **_(__愚かな。どのように私は次のようになりますか？_**_**)**, _she remarked semi-sarcastically, but her voice was hoarse from dryness, "I feel like shit," **_(__私は最低の気分だ。_**_**)**,_ She got up and sat at eye level with Shinji.

Both looked at each other and before either could say anything, Dante groaned next to Asuka's bed and got up. He's also attached to an IV machine, "Hey…" **_(__ねえ。_**_**)**,_ He weakly greeted.

"Hey…" **_(__ねえ。_**_**)**,_ Both Asuka and Shinji replied and silence returned, only to be filled by their machines keeping in track with their heartbeats. Both Asuka and Dante got up and detached the cords across their chests. The three then grabbed their IV machines and headed for the window. Asuka and Dante took in the scenery and like Shinji noticed something completely strange…the year and the obvious absence of slogans for the Second Impact generation. Before the three could react to the new world outside, their hospital room door opened and the three turned their heads to see.

"Good morning kids," a Turkish nurse greeted in accented English, "You three should return to your beds so I can check your health." The three Children nodded and returned to their beds. She came in and two other nurses, one a man and the other a woman to do their rounds on Asuka and Dante. While the three nurses did their check ups, the Americans Shinji noticed from the helicopter came in. He noticed them wearing winter clothing (in this case thick sweaters), but the teenagers were the ones who stood out from their parents. They looked exhausted as did their parents, but one of the them in Shinji's eyes, the blue-eyed one with messy black hair looked like he gone through something he could relate to.

"H-Hi," the blue-eyed teen greeted, "These people saved you three from the Antarctic ice. After we're done here, you people can talk for a bit," the nurse looked at Shinji and then re-directed her gaze at the Americans, "After this, I would like all of you to meet with the hospital's director to arrange some paperwork," the Americans nodded in agreement and the nurses gathered their instruments and headed out the door.

For the Children, they felt unhinged but couldn't shake off the urge to ask the obvious question, "Where are we," Asuka asked in English, "And more importantly…w-when are we," she added as the muttered how her injuries healed so fast.

"You're in a hospital in Istanbul, Turkey. I'm Maddie Fenton by the way and this is my son Danny and eldest daughter Jasmine. And this is my husband Jack," the two teens waved awkwardly at Asuka and she nodded her head in acknowledgement.

"Wait! Istanbul, Turkey! W-What year and what day is it," Dante asked in shocked English, "Where are our belongings! Our luggage…OUR PASSPORTS!" He nearly jumped out of the bed, but one of the Americans held him in bed so he wouldn't rip out his IV tubes by accident. He looked up at him and was breathing heavily and eyes wide open…not knowing how to respond.

"Easy there! Your belongings are with your respective embassies, thanks to your passports. However, they have said that you three have to go there once you three recovered," he nodded, "Right…my name's Damon Gray and this is my daughter Valerie," she gave a soft smile and a wave. Dante also nodded his head in acknowledgement. His nurse checked his injuries and like Asuka healed miraculously fast.

Shinji got up after his nurse looked over his now healed chest wound and walked to Asuka and whispered something to her, "Shinji wants to know if anything else happened when you found us," she said in place of her comrade.

The Americans stood a little baffled because they didn't understand what happened either. They along with the Turkish scientists and officials from the Children's embassies were in the dark about the previous day's events. None of them stepped forward, except for a gothic-looking girl.

"My name is Sam and…well…what happened was that after the things we went through we noticed a giant orb of light over the mountains back in Antarctica and three points of light shooting for space…then after we went to find out what happened we found you guys."

The three 'former' EVA pilots couldn't believe what they heard. During that time, they knew they were knocked unconscious by the unknown energy when Shinji's Unit-01 was pierced by the MPE's lance.

"And to answer your other question…the date is **January 2****nd****, 2005**. You three have been out of it for nearly a day now," Jazz added to what Sam explained. The three couldn't believe that the people in front of them validated what they saw outside.

Dante attempted to divert their direction from delving too deeply into their pasts, "Um…Sam…are they your parents," he asked looking at the two well dressed, albeit preppy adults beside their seemingly anti-establishment daughter, "Yeah," her parents stepped forward a bit, "My name is Pamela and this is my husband Jeremy," both gave their reassuring smiles as did the other parents.

The Children looked at each other. The time and place they're now in just solidified their guilt…their guilt for leaving everyone behind instead of staying and taking whatever punishment they deserved for being involved with NERV. Shinji then stood in front of the Americans, still holding his IV machine.

"Thank you…f-for s-saving us," Shinji said in the best English he could muster, "Thank you," he started to shake a little, and did his best to shrug it off and went back to bed. He lied down and shifted to his right side as to not bother his tubed up left arm.

"Thank you for seeing us, but we would like some alone time right now," Asuka said to the Americans, "Yeah, its what's best for the moment," Dante added. The parents nodded and left the room with their children. As the door shut behind them, the teenagers caught faint sounds of the three Children silently trying to contain themselves and muttered three words, **"Mutter," "Mama," "****お母さん。****(Ok****ā****san)."**

As the Americans headed for the hospital's director's office, the mummers of the three patients echoed in Danny's head as well as his friends. When they arrived, the teenagers waited for their parents out in the hall on available chairs. The silence between them was palpable, until Sam dared to shatter it.

"Those guys are really fucked up. It's going to take a long time to get their stories out," she said as she held Danny's hand and he clenched it protectively.

"Not only that, they could suffer PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) from what they went through," Jazz also broke the silence with her diagnosis. She means well, but she isn't a trained professional…yet.

"Well, we're going to find out tomorrow when they head for their embassies. The issue with their passports is beyond weird. I mean…2015? Really? If they're from the future, then they may know what's going to happen and," Tucker said really excited as he looked at the hacked material from the embassies on his PDA. But was stopped by Valerie.

"I don't think so," Tucker looked at her, "And why not," he asked, "Because if they were from the future to tell us about it, then why have passports? And why would they cry as if they lost everything," she commented. She heard them crying when they left the room as well.

"Good point. Didn't think of that," Tucker said, slightly down now, but continued to look up anything recent on the Children from the embassies. The only noise that permeated the hallways were sounds of nurses calling doctors to certain wards or announcements of severely injured people just coming in…all of it in Turkish.

**January 3****rd****, 2005**

**11:56am**

Despite doctor's orders, the Children wanted to head for the embassies to sort out the issue with the passports. Shinji glanced out the window where he noticed the moon at the eastern horizon and the sun overhead, creating in his mind a hyper-real moment. He then took a glance at Asuka and Dante who talked in German and Italian, discussing about what to say and do when they arrive. Shinji has never done this sort of thing before. However, the simple interaction between his only two friends now was comforting.

As the two Europeans talked, Asuka caught glances of everyday life outside their van windows; people heading for work, shopping for groceries in small markets or in outside pavilions, and this brought surreal comfort for her psyche. Dante was along similar lines.

When their van stopped in front of the Embassy of Germany, her friends got out first followed Asuka. They headed inside and when Asuka entered one of the offices, Dante and Shinji were told to wait in the waiting area with others who either applied for a work visa or a student visa. After twenty minutes or so, Asuka arrived in front of the two boys and gestured her head to let them know it was time to leave. They returned to their van and headed for Dante's destination.

Asuka explained what happened in the office. Since the German officials haven't completely rejected her passport as a forgery, but since she has no official documents in any of Germany's databases, she can't be a resident unless she files papers to have legal guardians. So she agreed to have them sort out possible candidates in their adoptive services. He already knew about their unusual situation and accordingly, the other two embassies might have also been notified.

When Dante and Shinji arrived at their respective embassies, Asuka's statements hit home. All three had to sign up for adoptive agencies and go through the necessary paperwork, even as going far in changing their birth years from 2001 to 1990. Instead of heading for the hospital, they headed for a hotel where they've been told to head for once they made their trips. Once at the hotel they met with two Turkish officials and the Americans. They'll stay for an extra day before the Children head for their final destination.

After settling in, they received news from their embassies. The process would take a few months to complete due to their unique situation. On their behalf, the Americans would take them in during that time period. The Children were surprised, aside from Asuka, Dante and Shinji have never been to the States. All they heard were rumors and most of them were bad during their years in Kyoto and Rome. With extremism and fanaticism from the Right during the ten years following Second Impact. But despite their reservations, the three reluctantly accepted the terms.

**January 4****th****, 2005**

**1:34pm**

Dante and Asuka were drinking coffee at a Turkish café where they saw locals drinking tea, smoking shisha, and or playing chess. It was one of those cafés that didn't have wireless available. Most of the customers were in their 40s or older. They did have music playing and at the moment, it was a piece by Monteverdi, **"Lasciatemi Morire"** a Lamento D'Arianna, sung by Anna Caterina Antonacci. The two sat indoors, looking out the window they sat next too and enjoyed a relatively civil chat.

_"**Non credo che avrebbe giocato Monteverdi qui. Considerando la Turchia ha avutostoria con l'Italia,"**_ _(Didn't think they would play Monteverdi here. Considering the history Turkey has had with Italy)_ Dante commented as he took a sip.

_**"****Lassen Sie uns**__** nicht in einen historisch-politischen Diskussion. Haben genug vondiplomatischen Probleme bereits. In Anbetracht unserer **__**Situation,"**_ (_Let's not get into a historical-political discussion. Have had enough of diplomatic problems already. Considering our situation)_ Asuka said as she read the only German newspaper she could find.

_**"Così Non sono quello che sta leggendo sugli eventi attuali,"**_ _(I'm not the one who's reading about current events)_ he took a glance over the newspaper, **_"Soprattutto se un articolo è circa la recente rielezione di un presidente impopolare_****_negli Stati Uniti."_** _(__Especially where an article is about the recent re-election of an unpopular president in the States.)_

She rolled her eyes, "I know. But if we are going to live in the US for the next few months, then we have to keep up with current events. And from what I've been able to find, not a lot of it is good," she commented on what she searched in the course of one night.

Dante let out a sigh, "Not surprising. No matter what's there's going to be shit in the world," Asuka nodded in agreement, "And...considering how things went for us so far, I haven't been through an episode," when he said this, Asuka folded up her newspaper and set it on the table. She looked at him in the eye.

_**"Ich weiß nicht, warum Sie bringen diese bis jetzt. Nach den Ereignissen zurück inTokyo-03 und in Rom brauchen wir sie gehen zu lassen. Besonders Sie**__**."**_ _(__I don't know why you're bringing this up now. After the events back in Tokyo-03 and in Rome we need to let it go. Especially you.) _But before she could bring up the issue again, he stopped her.

_**"Sono solo escursioni. Non c'è bisogno di diventare ancora più ansioso,**__**"**_ _(__I'm just rambling here. No need to become even more anxious.)_ Dante semi-yelled at Asuka and that shut her up for a moment, but maintained her composure, "Everyone else doesn't need to know right away on what happened to us."

"I understand…but it would be better if we told them sooner rather than later. In order to avoid any misunderstanding or worse, have any misconceptions about our mental makeup," Asuka said in a diplomatic manner, but stressed her empathy for her colleague.

Dante looked down upon his cup of coffee and took his last sip, "I know. I know, but what about Shinji? He's been through more hell. More times than the two of us," he mentioned their lethargic comrade who stayed at the hotel. Asuka looked at him with a sympathetic look, _**"Ich weiß nicht. Ich weiß nicht, ob es etwas gibt, haben wir für ihn tun können**__**."**_ _(__I don't know. I don't know if there's anything we can do for him.)_

The two Europeans sat silently and finished their coffees. They paid and headed outdoors into the cold. Since the debacle, they bought themselves winter coats. Thanks to the officials whom will be their new guardians for the next coming months. Dante got himself a black coat and a grey wool sweater while Asuka got herself a white long coat and a red wool sweater. Both got thick blue scarves.

(Meanwhile at the hotel)

Shinji lied down on his bed, listening to the dying S-DAT player. The scratching of the tape and the stretched music sounded eerie to his ears, probably damage from the final EVA battle and the massive AT-Field. His cellphone along with his comrades were useless, but their laptops strangely still functioned. The thing now is NERV doesn't exist, so access to their files was pointless. But the one fact that's eating him up is the last image of his life before waking up on the ice, but so far he could only feel the image and not see it in his head. He got up and hit his pillows as hard as he could before he slumped back to bed exhausted. Again he cried out in frustration, not knowing what to do and let the sounds of the heater take his thoughts out the window. He was about to fall asleep, but his room door opened, half-expecting to see Dante, but instead Danny came in. Neither said a word nor moved a limb as Shinji stayed lying down; Danny came closer and sat at the bed's edge.

"I hope you can understand me," Danny looked at Shinji hoping to get a response. Shinji nodded a yes, "Well…I don't really understand what happened to you guys and…or why your friends just left for somewhere but…if you need to talk my friends are here and so am I…the same goes for your friends…"

Then the silence between them formed again and Danny let out a nervous chuckle, "Sorry Shinji. I'm not much help here am I," he rubbed the back of head and Shinji let out a soft smile and sat up to talk to him face to face, "It's okay…t-thank you for c-caring…same with your friends and family…" he breathed in and out to compose himself, "And…I want to talk…but later…my English…need more practice…" he smiled sheep fully.

Danny nodded, "Okay," he patted his shoulder, "We're leaving tomorrow for the US. Tell your friends when they come back all right," Shinji nodded and Danny let out a content sigh. When the door closed Shinji turned off his S-DAT and threw the tape away and went back to napping.

But residual thoughts of what happened just a few weeks earlier involving his father still presided in his consciousness, _**'父親。ある日、一日、あなたの罪のためにお支払いします****。'** (Father. One day, one day you'll pay for your crimes.)_

**January 5****th****, 2005**

**5:45pm**

Asuka woke up from her nap and noticed Dante and Shinji sitting next to each other and both of them had their heads touching as they napped. She smiled at the scene, got up and headed for the restroom at the back of the plane. She passed the American families and their children who napped or talking amongst themselves. Sam caught her gaze, and both gave brief smiles, silent hellos in a way.

After a few moments, Asuka got out of the restroom and was met with Sam. Both were out of earshot from everyone, near to where the flight attendants worked so they had some privacy.

"So…" Sam started, "So…" Asuka said in a similar manner, "About Philadelphia, there are some things you might find surprising but overall, nothing to be shocked about," Sam said and Asuka eyed her slightly confused and thought what she meant was something else entirely, "Well, I've been to the States before, but that was a long time ago."

Sam now was curious, "How was the US from where, er um…when you came from," Asuka crossed her arms uneasily, "Well, even more intense than what I could read up on over the past few days. More extremism, fanaticism, and more problems involving immigration and a downgrading economy."

"So, much like what it is now, only five times worse," Sam said, "Exactly," Asuka confirmed.

"So…what are Dante and Shinji to you, personally," Sam asked and truth be told, the German dreaded this, "Dante was a colleague from our younger days in Oxford, England. Since then our friendship has…evolved, for a lack of a better term. As for Shinji…its complicated. I've just known him for less than a year...and we've been through a lot," Asuka expressed in enough words hoping for Sam to understand. Gratefully, she did.

"Okay. And I have one more question, on a lighter note," Asuka eyed her now with a slight smirk, "Well, what is it," Sam smirked as well, "I was wondering if you're a vegetarian or not?"

Asuka laughed quietly, "No. Sorry I'm not," Sam smiled as well, "Don't worry, I won't judge you or anything. Except you're supporting a system that's a contributor to global warming and global corporate dominance of the slow food movement," she made her point but it was in a humorous way so Asuka wasn't at all offended.

"Very well, but you must also know that vegetarianism nowadays is a privilege of the US and European middle class who can afford to live that lifestyle, but suffer a lack of culture and history," Asuka playfully retorted and both made faces at each other and laughed a bit. Both girls went back to their seats and tried their best to ward off the boredom of a long flight from Istanbul to Philadelphia.

When Asuka sat back down, her comrades still slept and noticed hints of drool at the edges of their mouths. She chuckled a bit at the sight, reminding her of her days at a German university where two of her classmates slept in their dorm in a similar position after pulling an all nighter, _'I miss those days…strangely, I don't really miss the EVA. Of course I'm proud of what I've done and what the cause was, but that's no longer an option now. They're gone now and now…what am I going to do now is up in the air.'_

As the hours rolled by, leaving the European continent behind, Asuka and Dante felt they were leaving home. Shinji felt even further away from home, so far from Japan. The three Children talked with the American teenagers throughout their flight, not lengthy discussion about each other, but talked about the simple that broke the ice. Shinji tried to talk, despite his poor English, but it was enough at certain moments. The parents looked at the Children and noticed when they talked to their children, even when they seemed a little calm while talking, but in their moments of silence or when they talked with one another in Japanese, German or Italian, they would have looks of being betrayed, loss, grief, and a sense of fraternity…as if they had gone to war and this struck a nerve.

**11:56pm**

After landing, getting their luggage, stepping out into the cold winter air was far from comforting. Everyone boarded taxi vans to head for the Amity district of Philadelphia. As they rode into the night, the Children noticed the ethereal atmosphere illuminated by the street lamps outside. In moments of darkness between the lights, they noticed their reflections, cementing their hyper-real situation, alive and 'amputated'. They were grateful for the Americans and the Turks for saving them from the ice, but didn't know if they could trust them with the explicit details. The drive itself calmed their nerves somewhat, but also had them nodding off to sleep a few times. On the plane, everyone discussed where the Children would stay in, so they agreed that Sam's house would be ideal, they had three extra rooms. Their Turkish guardians agreed to stay somewhere nearby, and Sam's parents told them there was an apartment building nearby that had vacancies.

When they arrived, the Mansons' and the Children thanked the other families and the drivers. As the vans drove off, they headed inside. In the dark they found their rooms, the host family showed them to their rooms. The Children thanked them and collapsed on their beds, they didn't bother to change out of their clothes. The Mansons' headed for their rooms and slept, but as with the other families they had trouble letting go of what happened over the past few days. As Sam tried to sleep, she got a text from Danny.

["Can't sleep."]

Sam texted back, "Me neither. What are we going to do? The thing last year with Wilfredo and his friends was bad enough."

After a few moments she got a response, ["I know. And with his abilities, he can detect what's going on without us saying anything."]

She sent a text back, "Damn you're right. And what happened to him before you rescued me...I mean all of us," she sent it with her heart pounding a bit more heavily.

After a few moments, Danny replied, ["Um...let me tell you tomorrow at school. It was...let me tell you after school."]

Sam didn't know what to make of it, but she decided that since it was late, "Alright. Tomorrow then. Night :)"

["Night."]

Sam smiled faintly and set the phone down beside her bed. She snuggled in her blankets and finally, she got a good night's sleep for the first time in days.

**3:45am**

Shinji headed down for the kitchen to get water. He turned on the light above the sink while the rest of the kitchen was still darkened by the night. As he sat down to drink his glass he heard footsteps, it was Asuka and Dante. The three looked stayed silent and the three sat apart from each other. They didn't feel like saying anything, allowing the silence to fill between them. Then Asuka reached across the table and grasped Shinji's wrist, the two looked at each other and remembered the second kiss the two shared back on the ice. Shinji for the first time didn't feel like shying away and looked at his German comrade in the eyes. The two stayed silent, then Shinji grasped her hand with his free right hand. Dante smiled at the sight, but he stayed where he was at and drank his water. After a few minutes passed, the three got up and headed for bed.

But before they headed for the stairs, the three stood silently in the kitchen, tears flowed silently from their eyes...the three stepped closer to each other until they could feel the heat off of each other. Then the 'amputated' teens found themselves in a desperate group hug, grasping each other's backs to hang on to something that's now lost forever. The lone kitchen light and the dark night embraced them with a warmth that felt unfamiliar, when usually it gave discomfort when they reminisce about their less than secure childhoods. Their cries echoed in the kitchen and hoped no one would hear them, but unknown to them, Sam was at the bottom of the stairs and witnessed their private moment together. She frowned inwardly, not knowing if she or her friends could ever understand the hell the three foreign teenagers had gone through.

**January 6th, 2005**

**3:34pm**

Around this time, the sky was open and blue and the sun shining down. But the cold still hung in the air, enveloping the city in a state of mind, sunny but as cold as the ninth circle of hell. The forecast for the rest of the week was partly cloudy to snowfall in the next three days. There was traffic in some places of the city, but mostly in the urban areas, or around schools in the afternoons where parents picked up their kids.

Dante was at a local bookstore in the Amity district called "Skulk and Lurk Bookstore" in order to find books he once had. The store also sold CDs and vinyls located on the second floor. After purchasing five novels, six vinyls, eight DVDs he headed back to the Manson home, but passed by the high school where the American teens attended. He always wanted to know how an American school operated, but decided against it today. He wore his black winter coat and scarf he bought back in Istanbul. He also wore a pair of sneakers, the snow was cleared earlier in the day.

Asuka was at a local clothing store where they sold bargain clothing. She was just looking for a specific black leather jacket she once owned. She didn't but she did find a nice pair of boots for the weather, stylish and practical. She also found some scarves, a pair of gloves, two coats (one black and the other burgundy), three pairs of jeans (two midnight blue and one black) and three wools sweaters. She paid for them and headed out the door. She noticed a Latina talking to her blonde friend in accented English. She glanced at the two and the Latina caught her.

"Wow, nice clothing...even if they're used and bargain based ones," Asuka took in the bitch's comment but decided to calmly tell her off. She wasn't up for anything confrontational...today, "Funny, I would say the same thing about your idea of a jacket. From whom did you buy it off of, a hooker on the corner at night?"

The Latina just looked at her clearly pissed but Asuka didn't stick around to hear her rant. She simply walked away and hearing the girl lash out at her back in broken Spanish, _'Huh, Dante and I speaks better Spanish that that dumb bitch. Pathetic really,' _she smiled inwardly.

Shinji was at the Nasty Burger to try a hamburger. He never had one before, even in Japan so he decided to satisfy his curiosity. He knew Asuka and Dante were out and about around town so he wasn't worried. The Manson family decided to give them cell phones, but later in the afternoon when they come home from work and school. He sat at the stool area looking out into the town before him. He ate his burger, a bit greasy but good overall and the fries were delicious of course. He also took note of local teenagers who got out of school. He noticed a jock who picked on a another seemingly weaker student, Shinji scowled at the scene but resumed with eating. He then noticed a song playing over the stereo system, it was Barry White's "Let the music play." He heard it once before and never heard it again, immediately memories of Tokyo-03 sprung up at moments nearly forgotten, the moments he had with his makeshift family under Misato's caring watch. He stayed to hear the song in its entirety.

When the song finished, he threw his trash away and headed out into the cold. He buttoned up his brown coat, adjusted his grey scarf, adjusted the strap of his messenger bag, puts his hands in his pockets and walked for his new home. His sneakers are one of the few things he still has from Tokyo-03.

When he arrived back at the Manson home, he heard loud music coming from the living room. He checked to see what's what and saw a surprising sight, Asuka and Dante dancing with each other over the same song of Barry White he heard back at the hamburger joint, but from a local radio station this time and then they switched to another radio station. And strangely they danced in a waltz to an aria sung by countertenor David Daniels in Hercules by Georg Friedrich Handel, "As stars, that rise and disappear" performed by Les Musiciens du Louvre-Grenoble under the direction of Marc Minkowski. He took in the happy sight but stood by quietly and watched the Italian and the German move in unison.

**4:12pm**

Danny decided to head for Sam's home to talk with the three foreigners, but was met with a sight he thought he wouldn't see again, the boy that confused the living soul out of him. The same one who killed Vlad in the Antarctic. He transformed and discreetly followed the mysterious individual. He quickly caught the sight of a trail of blood as he walked towards a clinic. The boy stumbled in through the back and quickly got a bottle of rubbing alcohol, peroxide, a bag of cotton balls, tourniquets and bandages from a few supply boxes. Danny quietly observed and hoped he wouldn't be spotted...but he was wrong. The boy quickly sprung around and pointed his 1940's pistol straight at Danny's invisible form.

"Show yourself," the boy commanded and Danny, hesitantly showed himself, "Oh...its you," the boy said sounding disinterested and lowered his pistol, "What do you want," he asked as he gathered the medical items.

"What are you doing," Danny asked curiously and demanded an answer, "You killed Vlad and now you're stealing? What the fuck is wrong with you!"

The boy turned to him, "For anything else you want to know, talk to Wilfredo. He knows what I am," he semi-yelled at Danny and rushed passed him. Danny tried to grab him, but felt the electrified energy sting his hand. The boy exited, Danny rushed out the door but the boy disappeared for parts unknown. He transformed back to normal and headed for the street and caught the gazes of Wilfredo, Alberto, Zane, and Gilberto. Both sides gave sheepish smiles and went their separate ways, but Danny knew from Wil's glance that he knew something was going on, but didn't show anything on his face or body that he did...he hid it well.

"Damn it!" Danny kicked the air and walked down the sidewalk for Sam's house, "I thought with Vlad gone things would get easier. But no, I've got three things to keep in mind. A medium, a mysterious boy with a dark history, and three foreign teenagers who survived hell! What the hell am I going to do," he verbalized his thoughts continued to walk in the increasing cold air, now fueled by the wind.

**Well, here's the first chapter. Read, review, and critique. For the usage of German, Italian, and Japanese, I have to apologize. I used Google for my efforts.**

**A slow merging between the two shows, but that's the point when you have three or more reference points to work with. In the next chapter, you'll see what happened to the three EVAs.**


	3. January 2005 part two

**LES MUSICIENS**

**2005**

**A crossover story**

**This chapter was largely inspired by the pieces "Negrosantolallismo" and "Floid" from the soundtrack to BIUTIFUL, as well as "****Do we lose 21 Grams****" from the 21 GRAMS soundtrack. **

**Chapter Two**

**2:45am**

Shinji woke up in a cold sweat. Images of Rei and Kaoru still plagued his mind two weeks after arriving in a new dimension and getting adjusted. He looked around the room. He remembers well whenever he dreams of the EVA, an illusion of Rei appears; just as the first time he arrived in Tokyo-03. Now the lack of Rei's presence was reassuring, but also slightly uncomfortable.

He got out of bed and headed for the restroom down the hall. He turned on the light and immediately started seeing spots, practically feeling his pupils dilating to the sudden change in the amount of light. He took a leak and once finished checked himself in the mirror, seeing tired looking eyes after three days of reoccurring dreams involving a girl that disturbingly reminded him of his dead mother and a boy who was the first to ever genuinely say, "I love you."

He turned off the light and headed back for his room, but suddenly felt a chill run up his spine. He turned around, expect to see the former First Child to stand there and confirm that he's still not ready to let go of the past. But he saw nothing, only the darkened hallway with the faint moonlight coming from Asuka and Dante's open bedroom doors.

He turned to proceed to his room. He closed his door and snuggled under his thick blankets. He slept in the fetal position facing the window; the moonlight soothed his nerves but also brought a sense of awareness. He didn't know what this meant, but felt the EVAs were watching him and his comrades from somewhere and with their laptops useless in terms of access to NERV's files, they have no way determining whether or not the EVAs were gone for good.

When sleep finally took hold and dragged his consciousness into the dark with hues of color, a boy sat in a lotus position on the floor besides Shinji's bed and watched over him…careful to not let any blood drip from his body onto the wooden floor. He got up and began to gently caress his hairline. After doing so he walked to the door and vanished into the darkness of the mansion and head for the front door.

**January 2005**

**Week three**

**Monday**

**4:47pm**

Ants crawled up the glass surface of an empty honey jar. Wilfredo held up the jar and watched the ants crawl up the sides of the jar to reach for the honey residue on the jar's rim. He took out his Leica and took a picture of the jar outlined by the orange-red light of the setting sun. The cold air felt sharper on his skin and decided he was done for the day. He buttoned up his coat, adjusted his scarf and put his camera back in his messenger bag. He left the jar on the sidewalk, letting the ants have their way with it.

He rode down the hill on his bike and once on the flat street, he regained control and rode off for his Zane's house. At a bus stop bench his noticed a Japanese boy taking a nap. But that wasn't why he stopped; he sensed something around him, an aura of negative feelings. He parked his bike beside the bench and sat next to the boy. Even before caressing the boy's face he felt something thick, disgusting, dark, tragic, and anger-filled. Once he touched the boy's left cheek, he felt a presence above him…he looked and immediately saw bodies floating. Not ghosts, but memories still alive in the boy's mind. He turned his head away, but the presence wouldn't let up, he looked again and noticed two figures above him that caught his attention…two albinos one a girl and the other a boy, both presumably are 14 years old.

Once he stood up and calmed himself, he took one last look at the boy and proceeded for Zane's home, "Damn! That dude has serious issues to work out. A woman shot, three classmates with unknown fates judging by their blurred images and two albinos with eerie peaceful sleeping expressions," he vocalized his thoughts and continued to ride.

On his way to Zane's, he spotted two teenagers he once saw at his favorite bookstore. The Italian and German caught his interest, due to the fact that they shared disturbingly dark auras as the Japanese boy he just observed. The two foreigners talked in Italian and German. A chill run up his spine and just as he was about to reach his friend's home, he spotted the boy again, the same boy who last visited him on January 1st. The two looked at each other, the boy walked over to him. Wilfredo got off his bike and walked with it beside his new acquaintance.

"How have you been," the boy asked with his hands in his pants pockets, "Pretty well. I'm about to visit Zane. He and our two best friends, as well as I are discussing the layout of a new website Zane's been planning with our professor," Wilfredo said, slightly content.

"That's good to hear…and I can tell you met three new people in this part of the city. You know, the German, the Italian, and the Japanese teenagers. Sad bunch aren't they," the boy commented.

Wilfredo sighed, "Sad doesn't begin to describe them. But I don't know why Danny would be so interested in them? They're not mediums, although somehow, they have the qualities to be mediums. How is that," Wilfredo asked.

"Don't know. But I think you should talk to at least one of them. Begin with Danny and his friends. Then go from there," the boy advised.

Wilfredo thought it over for a minute, "All right. But I'll pretend not to know anything," he added. The boy gave a small chuckle, "Whatever works for you," he turned to the right at the end of the block, "Later."

"Later," Wilfredo watched him leave and in a blink of an eye, he vanished. Wilfredo continued on his way to Zane's…leaving the matter involving Danny in the back of mind for now.

(Meanwhile)

Shinji was in the bus, looking out the window. He still couldn't believe he was in a new reality. But for the past two weeks, the reality is not as different from the one he and his friends left behind. The only thing different is the lack of Angels and NERV, which was a plus. There were strange moments involving the Americans, most of the time when they get out of school. And for the past week or so, he and his comrades have felt chills going up their spines whenever they head out alone or were in the house alone…always the presences of someone watching them. But they never caught anything unusual.

When the bus stopped in Sam's neighborhood, he got off and walked the rest of the way home. He, Asuka, and Dante have gotten used to live with the Manson family, although Sam's parents do seem a bit too happy for their tastes, the three couldn't really complain. It was either that or living with their Turkish guardians. Not that they were strict or anything. Their guardians were sympathetic and the only ones the Children have told their pasts to. At first they didn't believe them, but over several attempts during the past few weeks in the States, with their stories consistent with one another, the Turks have no choice but to accept their stories at face value.

The sun had finally set, the cold air bit Shinji's skin. When he got back to the mansion, he noticed the streetlights above him glowing more radiantly than usual. He shrugged it off and headed inside, where he noticed Asuka and Dante watching the news, in this case BBC and Reuters. During moments like this, and talking with their American hosts, his English was improving daily…he was a fast learner after all. Asuka and Dante got along with the Americans, but as Europeans, they felt uncomfortable at times with the local customs.

**(10:45pm)**

Later that night, Shinji got ready for bed. Once in his navy blue pajamas, he went to Dante's room which since coming to America has been customized. The walls covered in posters of his favorite films (mostly Italian neo-realism and current contemporary films), a new shelf with CDs, an expanding book collection, and a new small desk for his NERV issued laptop.

"**ダンテねえ****。**_(__Hey Dante)_," Shinji greeted by knocking on his already open door, "**Ciao Shinji. Entra dentro. **_(__Hey Shinji. Come in)_," Shinji nodded and made his way to sit on Dante's bed.

Dante fixed his book collection and sat next to Shinji, "**だから、あなたは何****が必要なのですか？飛鳥で動きを作る上で****のアドバイスは？**_(__So__, what do you need? Advice on making a move on Asuka)_," he asked slyly and Shinji couldn't help but blush at the Italian's remark.

"**なし！私は意味...私はアスカが好きです****が...** _(__N-No! I mean…I like Asuka but)_," he looked at the Italian clearly embarrassed, "**ダンテ****！** _(__Dante!)_" His friend laughed, "**イカリをリラックス****！そう、それはあなたが話をしたい****何ですか？** _(__Relax Ikari! So, what is it you wanted to talk about)_," Dante asked and rubbed Shinji's back affectionately.

Shinji was still sort of new to this level of affection, but accepted it nonetheless, "**あなたが夢を持っている場合も、私は****不思議でしたか？私たちに何が起こったかについての夢****？** _(__Well, I was wondering if you have dreams? Dreams regarding what happened to us)_," he asked and Dante's face immediately dropped.

He took his hand off of Shinji's back and placed both on his lap, "**そこにいくつかの夜がないと...も... ...あなたが何ができる****？** _(__There were a few nights and...well...what can you do)_," he looked at the former Third Child with a semi-defeated expression on a matter he cannot hope to explain.

"**飛鳥はありますか...あまりにも夢を持っている****？** _(__Does Asuka...have dreams too)_," Shinji couldn't help but ask, "**よく、彼女は行いますが、なぜあなたは彼女を自分で確認しない****？** _(__Well, she does but why don't you ask her yourself)_," Dante recommended Shinji to do just that. He nodded and got up.

He walked out of the Italian's room and head for Asuka's. Her door was closed, "**飛鳥。私は入って来****てもいいですか？** _(__Asuka. May I come in?)_"

He heard some things moving around inside, "**Ja!** _(__Yes)_," she yelled and Shinji slowly opened the door. Inside he could tell it was Asuka's room and like Dante she had an impressive book and music collection, but she also had her selection of coats, boots, jeans, and shoes. She was on the bed in a white t-shirt and black sweatpants; she waved her hand in a gesture to invite him to sit next to her. He did and once next to her, he felt slight unease. Again the memory of their kiss from the ice comes up and when he glanced at her, he could tell she remembered that moment as well.

"**あなたは何を****したいですか？** _(__What do you want)_," she broke the silence, "I…I was wondering if you have…if you're having dreams lately," he managed to ask in English.

She looked at him, "**Warum?** _(__Why)_," Shinji breathed in and out, "**さて私はダンテを尋ね、彼は私たちに何が起こったかに関係な夢を持っていると話す****。 **_(__Well I asked Dante and he said he's having dreams involving what happened to us.)_"

Asuka thought it over for a moment, "**と彼は何を****言いましたか？** _(__And what did he say)_," "**彼は何も言わなかった。彼はちょうど彼が夢を持っていたことに言及。あなたもいたのであれば、私は不思議でしたか？そう****...** _(__He didn't say anything else. He just mentioned that he did have dreams. So I was wondering if you did too. So…)_" Shinji said and shifted in his place.

Asuka looked at him and did something he didn't expect, she shifted closer to him, "**よく、私はそれに関連する夢を持っているか、ではなく、特にネルフやEVAに****。私は私のお母さんと彼女に何が起こったのかを夢見て...私はかなり確信してそのダンテのための同じ。 **_(__Well, I do have dreams relating to that, but not specifically to the EVAs or NERV. I dream of my mom and what happened to her…I'm pretty sure it's the same for Dante)_," she said and grasped his right hand. Shinji didn't move his hand away. There were moments where he enjoyed having her hand grasping his.

Shinji felt his face tighten to a smile forming when he heard Asuka's testimony, _'少なくとも私はこれだけではないよ。しかし、私は私達がこの新しい現実に適応し、美しい何かを楽しみにして助けるために何か他のものがあればいいのだが、残念。 (At least I'm not alone in this. But I wish there was something else to help us adjust to this new reality and look forward to something beautiful.)'_

After a few moments of silence, Shinji got up and Asuka let go of his hand. Both looked at each other and gave the faintest hints of a smile. Shinji went back to his room and Asuka took out her iPod and listened to her music while reading Newsweek.

**Tuesday**

**12:10pm**

Asuka opened the refrigerator to get some milk and noticed Sam's school lunch, she lifted an eyebrow and decided something out of character, bring the lunch to Sam. After putting on her winter attire, she told Dante and Shinji she'll be going out and will be back in a bit. The two boys waved her out and she walked towards the high school.

**(The end of fourth period. 12:32pm)**

Danny and Tucker sat down with their lunches from home and Sam was forced to buy a mediocre salad from the cafeteria.

"Jesus Christ. I resort to eating this today," Sam grumpily said as she forked down mouthful of lettuce.

Danny drank his milk, "Could be worse. You could be eating meat," he pointed out her strict dietary habits. She shrugged her shoulders in acknowledgment but wasn't feeling better.

As Tucker ate his sloppy Joe like a ravenous dog, he spotted Asuka who apparently was looking for them, "Hey guys," Danny and Sam looked at him, "Asuka is here," he said and continued to eat his favorite sandwich.

Danny and Sam turned around and both waved their hands up to get her attention. She noticed the two and walked over, Sam took notice the lunch box Sam left back home.

"Hello Danny, Sam, and Tucker," she greeted and noticed the smear of sauce across Tucker's face, "Um…Tucker you have some," she motioned to her mouth to tell him about his messy eating habits.

Tucker took notice and wiped his mouth clean, "Thank you," he said and she smiled…and rolled her eyes, "Sam you forgot this," she held up Sam's spider shaped lunch box.

Sam's eyes gleamed in happiness, "Thank you! Thank you so much," she opened it and looked happily at her meal of organic greens cooked with spices, "No problem," Asuka waved her hand.

Danny looked behind the German girl, "Where's Dante and Shinji," he couldn't help but ask, "Those two are back home. Lazy bastards. Couldn't get their ass's moving today," she said and the three couldn't help but laugh. Asuka chuckled a bit as well. As she waved a farewell to the three teens, a blond jock stood in front of her.

"Hey. Never seen you around before," he attempted to flirt with Asuka, but she wouldn't have it, "That's because I don't go to this school," she said dismissively but the jock was persistent, "Interesting. The name's Dash, Dash Baxter," he gave a cheesy smirk. But she rolled her eyes.

"Asuka Langley Sohryu. And I have to go," she walked past him but he wouldn't let her go, "Before you leave, why don't you stay a while. Sit with me and my friends," he pointed to his table and she immediately recognized the Latina girl she told off back in the first week of January.

"I don't think so," he attempted to put his arm around her, but she got him off and twisted his arm around his back. He was shocked by her strength and moves, so were Danny and his friends. The three looked at her and she looked back, a little bashful by her actions and she let go of Dash. He stumbled forward; she turned around and headed out of the cafeteria with some students looking at her and at what she did.

Danny felt a burning sensation on his back and turned his head and noticed Wilfredo's faint but potent aura encircling the scene between the German and Dash. Danny gulped, knowing his semi-secret connection to the girl and her friends would be known by his peculiar classmate, "I'm screwed," he said quietly, none of his friends listened thankfully.

**(1:34pm)**

Asuka came clean about what she did at the cafeteria to Dante and Shinji. They were shocked...

"**Joder! ¿Por qué no acaba de soltar patadas en la cara y que los americanos preguntan si hemos alguna vez parte de un ejército guerrillero de mierda!** _(Fucking hell__! Why didn't you just drop kick him in the face and have the Americans ask us if we were ever part of a fucking guerilla army!)_," Dante yelled at Asuka, clearly distraught.

Asuka rolled her eyes at her friend, "**Oh auf Tripodo kommen! Möchten Sie lieber mich nehmen, was er speienden nur um der gebrechlichen und traumatisierte deutsche Mädchen zu spielen? Schraub ****das!** _(__Oh come on Tripodo! Would you rather have me take whatever he was spouting just to play the frail and traumatized German girl? Screw that!)_"

"**Si potrebbe avere slogato una spalla che cagna! Hai mai pensato? O vi siete dimenticati che siamo addestrati dalla JSSDF!** _(__You could have dislocated his shoulder bitch! Ever thought of that? Or have you forgotten that we were trained by the JSSDF)_," Dante reminded her of their self-defense training of Filipino Kali and Krav Maga. Asuka could have severely injured the stupid American jock.

Asuka dismissed his concerns, "**私は大丈夫何をしていたか知っていた？彼は私に当たっていたと彼は私がなるままにしないでしょう。そう彼が私に触れたとき、私は彼の背中に腕を固定し、彼がメッセージを受け取ったときに私は行くと左ができます。これだけです！他に何も起こらなかった****！** _(__I knew what I was doing okay? He was hitting on me and he wouldn't leave me be. So when he touched me I pinned his arm to his back and when he got the message I let go and left. That's it! Nothing else happened!)_"

Dante calmed down somewhat from Asuka's full explanation, "**それはあなたがしたすべてのなら、特に問題はその後がない、待ってください。それは彼らがこの現実に私達の神秘的な到着と私たちのメランコリックな素因をつなぎ合わせるためのEVAのレベルに大きな何かが必要になります****。** _(__Wait, if that's all you did, there's no problem. It would require something substantial on the level of the EVA for them to piece our mysterious arrival into this reality and our melancholic predisposition.)_"

Shinji's moment of clarity surprised the two European children. But something in the back of their minds told them that if they didn't find an outlet for their emotions, they would sink into deeper confusion and adjustment displacement.

"**Gott, ich hasse ****das!** _(__God I hate this)_," Asuka said exasperated and went up to her room so did Dante, "**Puta madre**_(Motherfucker__)_. Shinji picked up the plates and put them in the sink…"**私は後でそれを洗うだろう****。** _(__I'll wash them later)_," he said to himself and went up to his room as well.

**Wednesday**

**3:25pm**

Snow fell lightly outside, confirming the weather reports from a few days ago. Their winter clothes warded off the cold, but it still cut through them to the bones.

Once in front of the school, they noticed students leaving, either catching the bus, walking home or catching rides with their parents. The wind picked up and stung the foreigners' eyes. The three headed inside in order to find the three. Asuka kind of memorized the layout from Sam's school issued planner. But from the first floor to the second, they couldn't find a trace of the American students. They made a last ditch effort by going up to the third floor.

The three were about to head back downstairs and head for home, but they then caught sounds of music playing. Dante peeked in one of the door windows and noticed a band of musicians playing music on period instruments. This surprised him because no youth orchestra would play classical music on period instruments, due to the lack of money and the disinterest from most so-called professors.

"Hmm, I believe they're playing a piece by Vivaldi," he continued to look inside and listen to the music, "They're playing well I must admit," as soon as he muttered this, the young American teenager stopped playing the harpsichord and stormed out the door, nearly hitting Dante's face.

"Hey come back! We're not done," the professor yelled and one of the cellists went after him. Ignoring the three teens that stood outside their door. With the cellist yelling to come back and cursing at him, the teen didn't listen and began ranting, "This music sucks and the instrument you're having me play is so gay," when he said this the cellist threw him to the wall and pinned him there, "Then why the fuck did you join in the first place?"

"So I can get credit for graduation. I could careless about this. I just want to get out of here," the boy dismissively said and the cellist pinned him to the wall more fiercely, dragged him and pushed him, "Then just get out of it then! No one's forcing your sorry pathetic ass to stay," the cellist yelled and the now former keyboardist rolled his eyes. The professor came out as well as the cellist's friends.

The American teen looked down, "Sorry professor Moradi, but I can't do this," he then walked down the hallway.

"Wil, have you calmed down yet," the Chinese American said, "Yeah Zane," Wilfredo said, "Jesus Wil! Your attitude is going to break my neck one of these days I swear to God," Zane said exasperated.

The music professor then looked at the three unfamiliar students, "Were you three listening in on our rehearsal," he asked and immediately the three teens looked at him, slightly bashful.

"Yes," Dante said looking into the classroom behind the professor, "We were just looking for some friends of ours and we just…found ourselves here," Asuka said. Dante then walked into the classroom and noticed the other musicians talking amongst themselves, ignoring Dante's presence. He touched the keys and looked at the score, "_**Antonio Vivaldi-Concerto RV 153 for strings and basso continuo in sol minore/en sol mineur/in G minor**_," Dante muttered. He placed his hands on the keyboard and began to tune the harpsichord. He hummed and whistled the parts for the strings so he can get a feel for the music.

Asuka entered the classroom before Shinji could stop her. She grabbed an extra baroque violin and tuned it. She tapped his shoulder so they could start over, but she looked behind her and noticed Shinji was still in the hallway, "Shinji get over here!"

He startled and went in, the other musicians were baffled by their actions, "**連中は私達は行くはず！これは私たちのビジネス****ではありません！** _(__Guys we should go! This isn't our business)_," Shinji said urgently in hushed tones. But Asuka looked around and noticed an unused baroque cello. She walked over with the violin in hand, "This isn't used by anyone correct," she asked and the baffled musicians nodded a silent no. She gave a small smile and handed Shinji the violoncello, "**ここで、今それを調整****。** _(__Here, now tune it.)_"

Shinji looked at Asuka and Dante who just tuned _"their"_ instruments. He then turned around and noticed the two musicians and the professor who returned inside. Wilfredo looked at the three with a questioning look while Zane went over to Alberto and Gilberto and talked under hushed voices.

The professor walked over to the three, "I don't know who you three are, but it seems you know how to handle these instruments with care and respect. Would you like to rehearse with us," he asked in a curious voice.

Dante and Asuka nodded vigorously while Shinji gave a sheepish smile. The two Europeans smiled and took their places. Dante was then approached by Wilfredo, "You better not walk out on us like the other fucker," he said clearly frustrated and bewildered by the recent turn of events.

"My grandparents taught me how to play the harpsichord at the age of six. Like I would walk away from this," Dante said excitedly and returned to study the sheet music. Wilfredo gave a curious look and returned to his spot and Shinji sat next to him.

"Um…I know how to play cello, but I never done this…chamber music I mean," Shinji struggled to express his concerns. Wilfredo looked at him and sighed, "Okay, just keep up with me and the time signatures are said right here," he pointed to his sheets of music, "So relax," he added and tuned his violoncello and Shinji went back to testing out his violoncello.

Asuka tested out her violin and Gilberto sat next to her, "Just keep up with us and you'll be fine. Don't know why I need to say this since you can handle the fiddle," Gilberto said in his own brand of flirting.

Asuka looked at him and gave her own flirtatious look, "I'm glad you noticed my brilliance at first sight," with a tone that yelled 'look but no touching.' Gilberto gave a smirk and returned to tuning his instrument, as did Asuka.

Alberto whispered to Wilfredo in Spanish, "**Oi**** qué jodido ****está pasando?** _(Hey__ what the hell is going on)_," he asked while he carefully held his theorbo, "**Joder ****si lo sé. Sólo espero que estos tres no camina sobre nosotros como el coño otro ha hecho****.** _(__Fuck__ if I know. Just hope these three won't walk out as the other pussy did)_," he said still clearly pissed off, "I hope so too. Well, let's do this shit then," Alberto patted Wilfredo's back and returned to his seat.

Wilfredo sighed and momentarily glanced at the three 'new' musicians. The professor silenced the students, "Okay, let's take it from the top," the noise of shuffling sheet music permeated the room and once that stopped, the musicians held their instruments in readiness.

The professor held up his hands, looked at the students/teenagers from different grades, he waved his hands and the music commenced.

**4:43pm**

At this time, the rehearsals ended and after working on parts to work on, the students felt they got the piece. Aside from the group's performance back in December, they were rehearsing several new pieces of Vivaldi's repertoire. And with Shinji, Asuka, and Dante joining their group with their own brilliant musical talent, things went smoother. Although four musicians wanted to talk to the three foreigners, the three left before they could even. They opted to try either on Thursday or on Friday if possible. Especially Wilfredo, who after just as the three people left a thought came to mind, _'Those three have a lot of explaining to do. I know they're lying about certain things. But also, they're like tragic heroes. Why?'_

The three made their way home from a fruitful rehearsal. The afternoon in their minds went from obligatory courtesy to an exciting possibility of recovering from their traumatic experiences involving the EVA and the MPEs. Although they have to report their outings to the American families and to their Turkish guardians, the three have decided to reveal their pasts to Danny and his friends by the end of the week. Although there was something that kept eating at them, what happened to their Evangelion units?

**Thursday**

**3:36am**

Shinji woke up and headed for the kitchen to get water. He didn't bother to turn on the light, the moonlight that lit up the darkened house was enough. As he made his back to his room, he encountered something he hoped would end...the image of an ethereal boy in the hallway looking at him. Unlike Rei's or Kaoru's vibrant but haunting red eyes, the boy had brown eyes that pieced the very depths of Shinji's soul. As if he were doing a standing, freestyle psychological analysis and summing up what he observed with just a stare. Shinji couldn't bring himself to look away...he wanted to communicate but there was something that held him back. Fear? Uncertainty? Caution?

The boy gave Shinji a sphinx like smile and Shinji found his sight blurring and feeling his sense of balance was faltering. His breathing became shallower and his heart rate was either slowing down or speeding up. He couldn't tell the difference and once he knew he was falling down he black out...

**7:01am**

Shinji woke up and noticed his room looked more...clearer. As he got up his head felt light headed and noticed static like patterns clouding his sight. He shook his head to get rid of it and headed downstairs. Sam was leaving for school with Danny and Tucker. The three didn't notice him so he made his way to the kitchen and noticed Dante and Asuka were already sitting down, drinking warm milk and eating some fruit. He was about to join them, but felt something strange from upstairs. He headed back up and when he felt his bedroom's door knob, he immediately felt an electric charge. He opened the door with his shirt and inside he encountered the same boy.

Before Shinji could ask the boy fired a blast of energy. On instinct Shinji squatted down and raised his hands to cover himself, but then he felt something eerily familiar flowing throughout his body...energy resembling an AT Field. He moved his hands forward redirecting the blast back to the boy, but he heard no sound of things breaking or shattering. Shinji opened his eyes and saw no one was there, only the surrounding light of the morning filled the room, along with the faint sounds of the heater.

**9:34am**

Asuka was watching TV in her room. With nothing on she turned it off and turned to the only briefcase she has with stuff from her old life. She took out her album and looked at the only photos where she and her mom were still happy. She felt a smile forming, but knew it was a nostalgic smile and also looked at photos that she and Dante took while in Tokyo-03. The two American colleagues that visited, her best friend, and the people from other countries trying to have new lives while living in the shadow of an impending Angel attack.

She then headed downstairs but then she felt a sharp noise penetrating her ears. She held onto the stair railing and the noise intensified to the point where tears flowed down her face. Her heart rate and breathing accelerated and her head pounded. She threw her head back and felt her eyes rolling back. She let out a yell, her hands clenched and heard a crack. The noise ceased and felt her body calming down. She knelt down and took a closer look at the railing and noticed a crack, end to end. She stood up, open and closed her hands but noticed something...like a new strength flowing through her veins. She went to the kitchen and picked up an empty soda can and with one hand she found herself crushed the can with ease. She let it drop and picked up an empty water bottle and found herself doing something new...ripping it apart not with force but with an energy reminiscent of an AT Field, **"Mein Gott in Himmel," **she muttered excitedly.

**12:45pm**

Dante searched on Amazon for a book by Jorge Luis Borges. He couldn't find the book he wanted at the local bookstore, well he did but it was in English rather than in Spanish. He sat at a coffeehouse and watched people driving by, or walking by with their kids or their dogs. As he left the Amazon site his computer registered three alarms. Thankfully the noise was muted and he checked it out, apparently the laptop was still reading that three EVAs were still operational but severely damaged. This shocked the hell out of him.

He looked at the data and it showed that the EVA and their computer systems can still be accessed by NERV issued computers. He looked into it more deeply, but then he felt something strange. His head felt heavy, his heart rate and breathing increased, and then heard a sharp noise penetrating his ears. He grasped the table's edges, his head rolled back as did his eyes. He saw whiteness and then heard a crack in front of him...the parked car's window had a huge crack down its center. He was now perplexed, the crack wasn't there before. He then looked to an empty glass bottle next to a street trash bin. He looked at it and instantaneously it shattered. Dante couldn't believe what he saw or what he did. but on some weird level, he enjoyed it.

**Friday**

Shinji, Asuka, and Dante headed for Amity High to join in on the student orchestra. But over the course of two days, they begin to feel more at ease with four of the musicians. Even more so than with the Americans who saved them from the ice. They didn't understand why, but noticed something open about them, like they went through similar shit as they have. Not on the scale of the EVA of course but they felt it was something more intimate and just as damaging to the soul as anything the Angels or the EVA had ever dealt them with.

Once at Amity High, they headed inside and headed for the third floor. They already hear the musicians tuning their instruments, but before heading inside the music room, the three came across someone Asuka unfortunately met...Dash and his posse of friends.

"Well look who it is. I knew we'd meet again," Dash said flirtatiously and Asuka just wanted to kick his ass. She then noticed the same Latina girl who 'critiqued' her outfit back in the first week of January, "Well looks like this school has an open door policy on letting hookers enter the school," Asuka said coldly.

"What did you say bitch! I'll show you hooker," Paulina yelled but was held back by her friend Starr. Dante tapped on Asuka's shoulder, "Asuka I think we should head for the music room now. This whole mess from the other day isn't worth our time," he said and Asuka nodded her head in agreement. Paulina glanced at him and gave a hushed comment on his tousled black hair and hazel eyes to Starr. She then gave him a wink and Dante simply rolled his eyes.

Dash then looked at him, "And who the hell are you," Dante gave a scowl, "Dante Akihiro Yamato Tripodo, a friend/comrade of Asuka and I would watch your step around her if I were you," he warned the dumb blonde jock, "And why should I," Dash asked and stepped forward in front of Dante's face, "Because she can kick your ass like no one else and frankly, so can I and our friend here," he said confidently and stared Dash right in the eye.

Dash gave a quick look at Shinji and reverted his attention back to Dante and Asuka, "He doesn't look like much. Maybe I should kick your ass instead of listening," he grabbed Dante by his jacket collar and before he or Asuka could react Shinji rushed forward and pushed Dash back violently. Dash stumbled and now focused on Shinji, "WHAT THE FUCK! YOU PUSSY," before he could attack Shinji Asuka and Dante reacted soon enough to grab him by the arms and threw him to the ground.

The two groups of teenagers stared at each other and the three foreigners walked off for the music room. Unknown to them, Danny and his friends watched the whole event unfold behind Dash and his group of friends. They were shocked by the turn of events and wondered what the three teenagers were hiding.

**4:38pm**

Dante, Asuka, and Shinji gather their things and headed out with Wilfredo, Alberto, Gilberto, and Zane. When they reached the front door, the two groups of teens talked about their recent rehearsal. The three foreign teenagers got copies of scheduled rehearsals as well as liver performances for the next coming months. Gilberto talked to Asuka and commented on her violin playing and she commented back. Between the two was a semi-flirtatious exchange, Gilberto got an immediate crush on her and she thought he was cute and above all respectful to her as a woman. So she didn't mind the flirting.

Dante talked to Wilfredo and Alberto in English and in Spanish. Wilfredo poked a bit of fun of Dante's Argentine accent as did Alberto. Dante returned the favor my mimicking Wilfredo's Spanish accent and Alberto's Colombian accent. Aside from this, the three boys found common ground on their ambitions in life, heading for a good university and their dreams of playing in an ensemble of musicians, maybe even starting one on their own. The three also commented on each other's playing on their respective instruments.

Shinji and Zane talked with one another, albeit in the best English Shinji could understand and speak. Zane was patient and pieced together the words together to get a coherent meaning from the Japanese boy. Zane also commented on Shinji's talent on the cello, saying he was quite good, even though it was his first experience on a baroque cello. Shinji was quite bashful, saying he wasn't that good of a player and had to thank Wilfredo for tips on handling a familiar but different animal from the cello he used to play. Zane commented he was being modest, he also used a bit of simple Chinese to see if Shinji understood. He did to some extent, but the two got through their conversation regardless of the language barrier.

After saying goodbye until next week, the three headed for Sam's home, but to their surprise they met up with Danny and his friends. They also had serious looks on their faces, which took the three by surprise. The six headed for Sam's home in silence and once they got there, they sat down in the living room to talk.

Asuka crossed her legs and stretched her arms out, "So, what do you three want to discuss?"

The three Americans looked at each other and Danny went first, "Well, we noticed you guys heading for Moradi's group of musicians after school and saw what happened between you guys and Dash," the three foreigners looked at each other not knowing what to say.

Asuka spoke up, "You saw that huh," Danny and his friends looked at them and nodded a yes, "Well, they wanted to start something and we...handled it. Even if we had to get physical, but that's how some people learn you know," Asuka shrugged her shoulders, not knowing how to continue or let the Americans take over.

"So you guys just knocked Dash's ass down to the ground. You know by doing that he's going to focus on making your lives a bit hard," Tucker pointed out but Dante and Asuka laughed it off, "Oh please. Like we're intimidated by that cock," Dante dismissed Tucker's worries and got up, "It's not like he's the worst thing that's happened to the three of us."

He was about to leave until Shinji grabbed his wrist. Dante looked at him as his comrade stood up. Shinji opened his right palm and it glowed a whitish-yellow glow, he then pointed it at a cup, an energy blast was fired and the cup shattered into dust. Everyone was stunned, no, beyond shocked.

Dante just stood there with his mouth agape, but then made a weird facial expression. He walked to the kitchen and brought back an empty wine bottle. He threw it down to the floor hard and as it shattered, he held out his hand and immediately the glass shards were brought together to form an abstract structure of glass.

If this wasn't enough, Asuka also went to the kitchen to bring back another empty glass water bottle. She held it at both ends and slowly, she crushed it into a squat form, ready for recycling. There was cracking, but the bottle didn't shatter and Asuka dropped the now deformed bottle to the floor, "That's what you wanted to know right?"

The three Americans just sat there and were just speechless. Tucker shook his head to snap his senses back into focus, "Not exactly! But we do want to know how you three handled him so easily? I mean, you three almost went all MMA on his ass," Tucker said all shocked not knowing what to ask.

The three foreign teens looked at each other and nodded. Dante brought out his NERV issued laptop, "Part of that answer lies in here," he turned it on and after a few moments, he logged in and opened the only remaining files of NERV. He then handed it to Tucker.

Tucker and his friends read out their profiles and what they have done in their past lives (so to speak). They were again speechless, Sam made a comment stating the three were forced to become 'child soldiers' through manipulation or dire circumstances with no alternative options. They also read the specs on the Evangelion units. The specs impressed Tucker to no end, but also disturbed him by the explicit detail on what they actually were.

Then they returned to reading the Children's profiles in closer detail and realized the three had lived traumatic lives with their families split up directly or indirectly due to the EVA and NERV.

"Is this all," Sam dared to ask, "We could go into further detail, but we're not ready yet. And before you ask, we have already told our Turkish guardians about our pasts. not in full detail, but enough so than can consider to take our predicament seriously and realize we're not playing a game here. So, do you understand now whenever you bring up the subject, we shy away from it because...because...well you know," Dante explained as best as he could.

"No we don't. We don't because if there's anyway for us to help you, you three have to open up about your pasts. Your circumstances are...biblical to say the least. Biblical meaning incomprehensible and we to know a way for us to understand you three," Sam explained their position and Asuka took the helm to counter her logic.

"I'm sorry to say this, but we can't because even if we do explain ourselves to you guys or to our guardians, there will be misunderstanding and before we know it we might be imprisoned. Or worse, brought under the attention of the ICC or the UN Security Council," Asuka expressed the collective fear between herself and her comrades, "There's a lot of time and work ahead for the three of us to establish connections with our embassies in order to make this weird transition more bearable," Asuka continued and immediately Danny stepped in.

"Yeah we get it! But putting the embassy thing aside, how can we help you guys out so you can put whatever happened behind you," Danny asked and the three foreigners couldn't think of anything to say. They looked at each other and felt down, until Shinji spoke up, "I...don't think you...you...you three can," Dante and Asuka looked at him and felt depressed, knowing he might be right.

The two sides sat and stood from across each other, now with the details out in the open...the path ahead is just going to be hard, arduous, and long. On some level, both sides felt the distance between them widening.

**11:45pm**

Its been an hour since everyone in the Manson home went to bed, and Shinji couldn't sleep. He got up to use the bathroom and passed the opened rooms of Dante, Asuka, and Sam. As well as Sam's parents. He went in and noticed his tired and frustrated reflection of himself. After he took a leak, he turned off the light and encountered a green light coming from Sam's room. He walked slowly, as to not wake her up. He peeked inside and encountered Sam tending to a boy's injuries. His features of white hair, and neon green eyes disturbed him greatly, he resembled Kaoru.

Then another disturbing thing happened, two rings of light surrounded the boy, becoming Danny, and more questions plagued his mind, "Thank you Sam. And even though the ghosts don't come much thanks to Vlad's death, I'm still worried about something...especially if you're there," Danny said sounding worried.

"Danny," Sam moved over a bit and was now mere inches away from her best friend, "What happened on the ice wasn't your fault. And what happened to Wil wasn't your fault either. There are some things you can't always help with."

Danny looked at her, "Huh, you're sounding like the three guys here," Sam gave a faint chuckle, "Maybe, but its true. There are some things you can't help but let it happen and see what's next," Sam said as she tilted her head towards Danny's.

"I-I kind of get it," he said huskily and tilted his head to her direction. Then their lips met and Danny grabbed her shoulders and she wrapped her arms around his neck. Their kiss was innocent enough, but the heat they felt was enough to know what the other felt. Shinji watched the whole moment unfold and stepped slowly back and headed for his room. Unknown to him, Danny and Sam heard the creaking wood from Sam's doorway and both got up and checked and noticed Shinji walking back to his room.

"He-he knows now...doesn't he," Sam said quietly, "Yep," Danny said and took Sam's left hand into his own. Both grasped each other tightly.

Shinji closed the door behind him and let the silence envelop him. He walked to his and got under the covers. Although his mind raced with thoughts his eyes grew heavy and slept. Unknown to him, the boy who attacked him yesterday morning sat beside his bed in the lotus position. He then turned his head to the bedroom door, he knew Danny's there even while invisible. He then returned to observing Shinji and feeling the emotions running through Asuka and Dante...as well as Wilfredo and his friends.

Black butterflies flew around the room landing on the boy and on Shinji. They basked in the waning moonlight while the few white ones preferred to stay in the darkness.

**Read, review, and critique. Longer this time around huh? Well, this is a difficult attempt to avoid the usual cliches as I have mentioned somewhere before. I know its a slow start to get the climactic events to take place, but they will come. Until next time, take care.**


	4. February 2005

**LES MUSICIENS**

**2005**

**A Crossover Story**

**This chapter was inspired by two pieces of music: "Can things be better?" and "Does he who looks for the truth deserve the punishment for finding it" from the soundtrack to 21 GRAMS.**

**With the revelation of the emerging abilities of the former pilots, in league with Wilfredo, the boy, and Danny, things will head for an interesting direction.**

**But what is more important, establishing and maintaining connections between friends or harnessing a power that's potentially chronic and soul destroying?**

**Chapter Three**

_[Flashback-January 10, 2005-4:10pm]_

"_Ruby Tuesday" sung by Franco Battiato__ was playing on the radio when Asuka turned off the lights. Dante was instructed to close his eyes. Only a few days had passed since arriving to the United States and Dante almost forgot his birthday. After coming home in the late afternoon, he noticed nobody was home and went up to his room to listen to his music. He then heard Asuka coming to his room, asking if he wanted to see a film she just bought. He agreed to it and downstairs. She chose to watch __The Seventh Seal__ and Dante was glad, one of his favorite films._

_After the film ended, she turned off the lights and Dante's eyes were closed. He then heard the sound of a flare and opened his eyes. It indeed was a flare, on top of a fruit tart cake._

"_Happy Birthday, Mr. Tripodo," she said smiling, "My word Asuka, I…I don't know what to say," Dante said completely surprised by her gesture, "You can say __**Grazie mille. **__Now blow out the fifteen candles idiot," Asuka teased playfully._

_Dante smiled, closed his eyes and blew out the candles. It would take a few moments for the flare to die down. He turned to Asuka and gave her a hug worthy of a comrade, "Thank you, you're the best friend I thought I would never make friends with," she hugged him tightly enough to show she cared for him, "No problem."_

_The two let go of each other and began eating their fruit tart/cake. The glazed fruit on top looked delicious, and the thin breaded crust beneath along with the cream were sweet enough to complement the fruit._

"_We should save some for Manson family when they come home. And for Shinji of course when he comes back from his chat with our Turkish guardians," Dante said and took a bite of his birthday gift._

"_Agreed. I though at first we should tell them about your birthday, but since we just got here, I figured you didn't want the extra drama than what we already have been through," Asuka said as she swallowed a mouthful of pastry._

"_Yeah that's true. So why don't we just say we bought this today as a way to thank them. We don't have to tell them about our birthdays, since we're not going to stay here permanently," Dante suggested as he finished his piece._

_Asuka nodded in agreement. Both finished their pieces of fruity pastry and put the cake/tart in the refrigerator. As they headed upstairs for their rooms, Asuka gave Dante another hug and placed a kiss on his forehead, "Just a friendly kiss. We both know this isn't going anymore," she said simply._

_Dante looked at her and smiled, "I know Sohryu," and hugged her tightly. After they separated, Asuka closed the door behind her. She turned to her CD player and placed in a CD of Donovan's music. She fast-forwarded it to play one of her favorite songs, __"There is an Ocean."_

_Dante closed the bedroom door behind him and lied down on his bed facing the ceiling. He picked up the stereo's remote control and turned on the CD player, he selected a CD and put it in, it had music by Mercedes Sosa and it played __"Balderrama."_

_Shinji came home a few moments later and heard the beat of music coming from his friends' rooms. He took off his winter coat and headed upstairs to his room. He thought he glanced at a figure at the corner of his eyes of someone, but no one was there._

_An hour later, the Manson family came home and soon everyone had dinner. The dinner was enjoyable and afterward, Asuka and Dante headed for the kitchen brought out a fruit tart/cake they bought for them. They apologized for the two missing pieces, and got a laugh from Sam's parents. Sam ate some; glad to know there wasn't any animal by product in the glaze._

_After dinner, the family watched a film; Sam chose the film __Alien__ (much to her parents disgust). And after the film finished, Sam's parents headed out for the evening, the same with Sam who went out with Danny and Tucker. Which meant the three foreign teens had the house to themselves…again, as they used to in Tokyo-03. The three mostly spent their evening either in their rooms or watched television in the living room._

_While watching the news to get better acquainted with this new reality, Shinji caught the glance of someone outside the window, it was a boy and when he blinked, nothing._

**February 2005, week four**

**Sunday, 8:55pm**

Electronic music pumped out of Sam's stereo as she read her gothic literature. She just put the music on so she could pass the time waiting on Danny. Ever since the two expressed their feelings a few weeks ago, the two have gone out on a few dates. Well, in Sam's mind, more like private moments together, away from Tucker.

Also since then, the former Children of the Evangelion have kept a bit of distance from them. Shinji viewed Danny's transformation while he and Sam shared a moment together. Dante and Asuka noticed Shinji distancing himself from Danny and his two European comrades noticed. But they thought it was his problem with adjustment. The two however still kept their distance due to their increasing participation with the musicians who have by now have a name. Funnily enough, it was simple and straightforward, **LES MUSICIENS****, '**The Musicians**'** simply.

Zane also designed and launched the website for the group, with the musicians' profiles describing their likes, dislikes, their email addresses, and short videos of them performing pieces on solo instruments. The core members were of course Zane, Gilberto, Alberto, Wilfredo and a few senior student members. Shinji, Asuka, and Dante were the only foreign members who also don't go to Amity High for reasons unknown. Whenever the issue comes up they refer them to their Turkish guardians and their story is always the same, the three were there for an exploration on American life while maintaining their education from their respective schools.

In reality, Shinji and his two friends would head for their respective embassies and work out the necessary paperwork for the adoptive services. Asuka has decided to settle with a middle-class family in Hamburg, Germany due to the history she's had there and would face her personal demons despite the completely different setting. Dante has chosen a similar economically stable family, but his destination is far from Shinji and even Asuka, he's chosen Buenos Aires, Argentina. His reasons were due to his mother's constant involvement with the country prior to Second Impact and the extended family she searched for there. He wants to see the obsessions his mother had. Shinji decided to head for Kyoto, Japan to stay where his demons lied and to confront them. However, unlike Asuka he decided to head for the city where his most painful memories resided prior heading for Tokyo-03.

Danny and his friends have also had two sides developments to contend with; first was the increasingly watchful eye of Wilfredo along with the mysterious boy that shows up, and the new increasingly developing new abilities Shinji and his friends now have.

They are increasingly frustrated with their sardonic sarcasm with the heroic exploits of the local "ghost boy". But overall, their behavior has been civil and friendly enough for Danny and his friends to feel relaxed around them.

After 13 minutes, Sam heard a tapping noise at her bedroom window and felt the temperature in her room drop. She looked and waved…it was Danny. He then fazed himself into her room. He landed on her bed and sat temptingly close to Sam, "Hey what's up," he asked cheerfully.

She turned off her stereo, "Nothing much. Just reading and listening to some music…a little bored to be honest," she admittedly said and shoved her book to the side. She then felt two arms wrap around her waist and felt pulled back, "I know a way we can pass the time," Danny huskily said in her ear. She felt the warmth of his breath and felt him slowly, gently, almost hungrily necking her. She felt the coldness of his lips slowly making progress upward. She then felt his lips on the edges of her mouth; she closed her eyes in the warm pleasure of his touch and caresses. She then felt his hand gently grasping her chin, tilting her head in an angle so he can make her lips meet his own. The pressure of his lips meeting hers, and the cold turning into heat was enough for them to have a full make out session.

After a few minute of innocent kissing, Danny slowly but surely touched Sam's bottom lip with his tongue. She knew what he wanted; she slowly allowed him entrance…the two started "Frenching". Their tongues played against each other, not seeking dominance but to see how the other reacted. After a few minutes, they stopped to catch their breath…even for someone who's half-ghost.

The two leaned forward and let their foreheads gently bump into one another. They then looked into each other's eyes, violet-blue met neon green. She turned around again and slowly leaned back with Danny still holding her around her abdomen. Danny's head leaned on her right shoulder and smelled Sam's scent, "You smell good," he said absent-mindedly. She gave a small chuckle and just enjoyed having him so near, so warm, and how protective he felt.

After a few minutes, both lied down side-by-side, looking at each other and caressing each other's hair. Danny took off his gloves so he could really feel her head, and she did something she rarely let him see, she untied her ponytail and let her hair come undone. It was a rare treat, a treat he would savor.

"I'm still new expressing what I feel…but ever since the Antarctic thing…its been getting easier," she said quietly, "Hmm," he quietly agreed, "Even though we haven't said it…I think this is a good step," she continued. He looked at her, "What haven't we said," he asked curiously, "You know…those words," she said and he immediately knew what she meant, "Oh," was all he could say and continued to caress her hair.

For now, it's the best they could do…and hope this newfound affection would last.

**Monday, 3:45pm**

"You're never going to let me forget it are you," Dante asked Asuka. She looked at him dumbfounded, they've been talking about their choices for adoption, and they mainly talked about the cities they've chosen, "That little moment in time is not going to follow me to, what hopefully is my new home."

"Well, it's quite hard to forget. And the Americans are asking how you got those scars on your arms," she said and he just looked at her with an unflinching gaze. She's been wary of him for the past two weeks with his hypomanic state. There were moments where he was lively and active, but of course there were the same moments where his anger could backlash on her, Shinji, or their new friends. Then after his hypomanic episode came normalcy then the period she dreaded to handle, his depression. And that's what the two discussed, the scars and their connection with a depressive period he endured following his father's death...not a moment she wanted to bring up unless it was necessary.

"You don't have to protect me Asuka. I would rather have them find this out sooner rather than a moment that would destroy us," Dante said in the best calm manner he could muster, "And besides, as I have mentioned before in the past, I control my moods. They do not define me. Understand? Or would you like me to repeat it," he said sounding semi-agitated. He hated to talk about his illness, since there were moments where the conversation could lead to using cliched words and phrases that have no substance to him.

Asuka took a deep breath and exhaled, not wanting to go off on her friend, "No, I understand. But I'm going to say this again, whenever you need to talk about anything…don't hesitate all right," she said and he nodded at her reassurance. Both knew where they stood, they didn't want to come back to it for a while.

Asuka left the Italian's room and headed back to her own, _'I swear he's going to kill me with his mental illness one of these days,' _she thought and sighed to herself. She opened her door and noticed Shinji on her bed. She closed the door behind her and sat next to him, "**ねえ。 **(Hey)," she said simply, "**ねえ。** (Hey)," he replied back.

The silence between them grew palpable until Shinji dared to break it, "**アスカ****... ...****我々は今何ですか？**(Asuka…what are we now)," he asked and she turned her gaze from the floor to him, "**あなたは、どういう意味ですか？**(What do you mean?)"

Shinji gulped, choosing his words carefully, "**まあ、それはほぼ二ヶ月今されている****...****我々はこれまで持っているよりも東京****- 03****で良いに沿って得てとて****...**(Well, it's been nearly two months now and…we've gotten along better than we ever have in Tokyo-03 and…)" he asked and she looked a bit confused, "**シンジ、我々はまだ動作するようにいくつかのことを持って、私はあなたが言わんとしているものを知っているが、真実です。** (Shinji, I know what you're trying to say, but the truth is, we still have some things to work out.)"

Shinji looked at her and scooted closer to her, "**私は、私たちは願っています****...****私はあなたを好きちょっと。** (I hope we do…I kind of like you)," he said but didn't realize he mentioned the last part, _'__**私は何を言いましたか？**__(What did I just say?),' _he fearfully thought. Asuka just looked at him, not believing what he said, "**本当に？ 私は意味****...****私はあなたに雌となっている。どのように私を好きですか？** (Really? I mean...I have been a bitch to you. How can you like me?)," she asked looking at him for a sensible answer.

Shinji's mind raced for any coherent thought, but then another thought slipped out, "**どのように私はあなたを好きではないのですか？** (How can I not like you?)"

Asuka looked at him and gave him a small peck on his cheek, "**あなたがことを知っている馬鹿です。**(You're an idiot you know.)," she said without malice. More on the lines of playful teasing and Shinji caught on it. He smiled at her and she smiled back.

She then got up and left the room, leaving Shinji to his thoughts on the German girl, _'彼女は私にキスをした！ 私はそれが頬が気になったことを意味！ そして私は彼女が好き彼女に言った。私は彼女が好き！_ (_SHE KISSED ME! I mean it was on the cheek but damn! And I told her I liked her. I like her!)' _the last thought replayed in his head over and over until sleep took hold. A small smile formed on his face.

Asuka walked for her room with a satisfied, but confused smile on her face, "**Shinji, können Sie ein Idiot sein, aber ich bin froh, dass du die Art von Idiot ich hoffentlich auf sich verlassen konnte. Sie retteten Dante und I. Sie verdienen Respekt.** (Shinji, you may be a dumbass, but I'm glad you're the kind of dumbass I could hopefully rely on. You saved Dante and I. You deserve respect for that.)," she opened her door and closed it behind her.

There was no rehearsal that day, since their performance on Sunday night at a local Presbyterian church. They performed a concerto by _Georg Phillip Telemann__ (__**Viola Concerto in G major, TWV 51/G9**__),_ which Asuka soared in and had Gilberto flirting with her more, and another concerto by _Antonio Vivaldi__ (__**Concerto for strings in G minor RV 154**__)_ and the latter where Asuka and Dante danced to it from a recording from the period ensemble _Concerto Italiano_, conducted by _Rinaldo Alessandrini_. The two joked it was their tango concerto to dance to, in particularly, the third movement.

Asuka put on the CD and danced by herself but then heard Dante coming in. He heard the music from his room and when the third movement started, as if on cue, the two got into position and danced the movement in a _milonga_ like fashion. Their quick steps suited to the third Allegro movement of Vivaldi's concerto. The two looked into each other's eyes without missing a step. Wilfredo often jokes to Dante that he's "**Un italiano que también pasa a hablar portugués y japonés. **(An Italian who also happens to speak Portuguese and Japanese.)," which Dante jokingly replied, "**Ese es un argentino, una identidad mexclado.** (That's an Argentine, a mixed up identity.)"

When the movement ended, the two Europeans stopped and looked at each other. They let go of each other and Dante headed back to his room. Asuka knew as much as he that this wouldn't go anywhere, their mild flirtation to one another is more of a way to see who is more dominant personality wise. The two enjoyed it, but nothing else.

She took out the CD and laid on her bed looking out the window. She noticed a songbird on the tree's branch, which was strange since its still technically winter. She didn't pay attention to it and nodded off.

The bird flew off for somewhere while the boy Danny and Wilfredo are wary of was watching the Manson home observing the behavior of the former Children inside. He listened to "The Joker" by Fat Boy Slim on his stolen iPod. He exhaled and noticed how his breath didn't dissipate in the air but hovered before his face, "**¡Merda!** (Shit!)," he muttered.

**Tuesday, 5:14pm**

Shinji sat in the shower with his knees folded to his chest. He let the hot water scald his body, but he bore through it, thinking about what just happened when he told his friends he needed to take care of something himself. Blood flowed down the drain.

_[Flashback, 4:05pm]_

_Shinji decided to head for the Skulk and Lurk bookstore/music store to get something for Asuka. He told his friends in the 'student orchestra' that he needed to get errands done. He told Dante ahead of time that it's a belated Valentine's Day gift. He agreed to follow along with Shinji's plan. _

_When he arrived, he felt a little nervous about getting something for Asuka outside her birthday. The birthday from ages ago was bad enough, not knowing if she was going to laugh at his face or throw his gift out the window. However now since she's calmed down and knows she's not the EVA pilot to Unit-02 anymore. But her abilities, his own and Dante's have grown since their inception in January._

_With a little help from one of the store's clerks, he eventually found what he was looking for. A vintage copy of "Funhouse" by The Stooges, a perfect gift for someone who used to call him a stooge. He paid for Asuka's gift and headed outside into the cloudy, rainy world. Snow has stopped falling and now sleet fell instead, which made the streets extremely slippery. _

_Two blocks from Sam's house, which by now became his proxy home he encountered a lone man approaching him, probably around 20 years old. He pushed Shinji to the brick wall of an apartment building, "All right kid, give me everything you got and I promise not to kill you," he demanded while holding a knife next to Shinji's vulnerable jugular. _

_Shinji dropped his stuff and tried to wrestle him off and he did. But the man came at him swinging his knife around to intimidate Shinji. On one movement, he struck Shinji's right palm as he tried to defend himself. Shinji then ducked from another swish of the knife and tackled him to the ground. Shinji slapped the knife from the man's hand away and proceeded to hit him. But the man then hit him on his left cheek, causing Shinji to stumble to the wet ground._

_As the man lunged for him, Shinji grabbed the man's head with his hands and something else happened. Shinji's hands begin to glow a whitish yellow and before he knew it, the man was screaming towards the sky. The man's eyes began to bleed and when this occurred, Shinji abruptly let go, but the damage was done, the man collapsed to the ground. Shinji cautiously went to him and checked his pulse…he was alive._

Shinji turned off the water and dried himself off. But the voices kept replaying in his head, the voices of the people who he heard coming to the man's rescue after he put him in a comatose state. He didn't mean to put him into a coma, so he decided to talk to his friends about it when they come home. He then bandaged his right hand.

But before he could head to his room and think about what just happened, he heard thumping noises of furniture from downstairs. He went to check, hoping it wasn't a burglar, _'Please don't make me use my abilities. Please,' _he pleaded to himself. He checked and noticed the same boy who was there when Shinji's new abilities first appeared, but this time lifting the furniture and rug with nothing but himself in the air.

"Hello Shinji. Fancy we meet like this, although, I did expect you to be more fearless when you were attacked by that imbecile of a man," the boy said as he set down a few chairs and the rug, "Here, let's talk," the boy said and offered him a chair. Shinji looked at him half-scared and half-confused. He sat down directly across from him.

The boy cleared his throat, "So, wish to tell me anything," the boy asked, "I…I don't know what you're talking about," Shinji replied in English, which has improved greatly since last month, "Don't do that Shinji. I know you're scared to ever use these abilities, unlike Dante and Asuka who have been experimenting them. And those two are doing fine without actually having Danny watching them, but there is someone I would like you turn to for answers, albeit approach him gently."

Shinji just looked at him confused, "Who do mean," he asked and the boy softly smiled to himself, "Well, you already know him to a certain degree. You know…the guy who you sense, always observing you and your friends," he gave Shinji a hint. Shinji thought for a moment and the truth hit him, "You-You don't mean…"

The boy touched his nose, signaling to Shinji he got it, "Exactly. But as I have said, approach him gently," he got up and headed for the door, "Oh and Shinji, don't tell your friends about what just happened between us. My business is private, but you might want to tell them what happened with that asshole you've sent to the hospital," he said and closed the front door behind him.

**7:34pm**

"**私は昏睡状態に人を置く。** (I put a guy in a coma.)," Shinji said to Dante and Asuka in the privacy of his room, "**Was! Che!** (What!)," Dante and Asuka asked in unison shocked. Shinji then continued, "**それ以来、私は彼のイメージを、彼の友人や家族を見てきました。私は何をするか分からない！ 私は刑務所に行くにしたくない！** (And since then, I've been seeing images of him, his friends and family. I don't know what to do! I don't want to go to jail!) I don't want to tell Danny or our Turkish guardians and I d-d-don't…" he started to shake on his bed. He was having an anxiety attack.

Asuka scooted over and hugged him to calm him down and he put his face between her right shoulder and breast, "**我々は何か考えるでしょう心配しないでください。** (Don't worry we'll think of something.)," she said as she rubbed his back. Dante sat at his end and contemplated on what to do, "Listen, we've had a long day today of rehearsals and with this new development, I think we should sleep on it until tomorrow."

"But what about Danny and his friends? They already know about our new abilities and have been wary of it for the past month," Asuka asked, "Well, we don't tell them. Because I don't think they'll be happy about this," Dante added

Both the Europeans looked at Shinji, to see what he recommends. He thought of something, "Well…I can try to ask one of our musician friends," both Asuka and Dante looked at him confused, "Why would we do that? They're friendly but I don't think this sufficient reason to bring them into our mess," Asuka argued.

Shinji cleared his throat, "But haven't you realized how one looks at us sometimes? Like he's looking into our souls or something," Asuka and Dante looked at him and immediately knew what he meant, "**多分私達は彼と一緒に、これを議論することができます。第三者。 **(Maybe we can discuss this with him. A third party.)," he added to bring some clarity to his idea.

Asuka and Dante looked at each other, "Well, he does have something about him," Dante went first, "I mean, the look in his eyes is intense, but also have a vulnerability that resembles our own. And if I can recall, he was talking to his friends about something relating to his own abilities when I eavesdropped on them before rehearsal today."

Both Asuka and Shinji looked at him, the two recalled hearing some similar conversations between Wilfredo and his friends and private moments with Danny on something important.

"**ので、その後定住している。明日はほぼ完全な見知らぬ人と話します。** (So it's settled then. Tomorrow we talk about this with nearly complete strangers.)," Asuka said and the two boys nodded in agreement.

**Wednesday, 3:27pm**

The musicians gathered in the third floor music room and began to tune their instruments. Now the group consisted of 22 musicians instead of the usual 16. The extra six musicians were from the University of Philadelphia who had Moradi as their professor in the past and were doing this as a favor for him this semester. One reason for this is the six extra musicians were either graduating from university or heading for graduate school. The second reason however was the most exciting; professor Moradi was planning the group's first abroad performance during a music festival in Montreal, Canada. The group couldn't be more excited.

Wilfredo headed for the music room alone today, his friends went earlier while he took care of business in the restroom. He carried his violoncello and was met with Shinji, Asuka, and Dante at the stairs end on the third floor.

"Hi guys! How are you," Wilfredo greeted, also filled with excitement about what is hopefully a fruitful step for the group as a whole.

"Pretty good," Asuka said and decided to ask something to see if Wilfredo can be trusted, "Listen, the three of us want to talk to you about something…in private," she requested.

Wilfredo looked at them curiously, "Okay, sure," he then followed the three to the other end of the hallway, quite a way from the music room, "Right what is it that you want to talk about," he asked sounding a bit impatient, "Well…we want to know…what's your deal with us," Asuka asked bluntly.

Wilfredo was a tad thrown by her question, "I don't know what you're talking about…" but he was interrupted by her, "Don't come off it. We know that you observe us like we are some sort of phantoms or something. Do you hate foreigners or something," she asked again bluntly.

He was now upset, "What are you crazy? Of course I don't hate foreigners! I'm not racist if that's what you're implying! What the hell?"

"I know about your abilities," Shinji said abruptly, like something from his mind vocalized his deep thoughts without consciously being aware of it. Wilfredo then just stood quiet, clutching the strap of his violoncello case tightly, "Who told you," he asked under hushed tones.

"I…I mean, we always knew," Shinji said, "You didn't answer my question. How did you three find out," he asked again, this time louder in tone, "When you talked with your friends when you think we weren't listening okay," Asuka added to Shinji's revelation.

"What," Wilfredo was now confused, "**Quando você ****falou com****seus amigos em espanhol ou em Inglês. Às vezes, em Português, mas a coisa é ... nós temos algo para revelar também.** (When you talked to your friends either in Spanish or in English. Sometimes in Portuguese, but the thing is…we have something to reveal as well.)," Dante added to what Asuka and Shinji have expressed. Wilfredo gestured his hands, prompting them to proceed. And soon enough, they demonstrated their abilities as they have done with Danny and his friends. To say Wilfredo was shocked would be a colossal understatement.

"Holy shit," he muttered harshly, and then he heard his friend Alberto calls out his name from down the hall, "Wil! Come on the rehearsal's about to start man! Get your ass over here!"

"All right! All right! Be right there," Wilfredo yelled back and returned his attention to the three foreigners, "Okay, here's the deal. After our rehearsal today, I'm going to tell my friends that I'm going home alone. After five minutes, follow discreetly; I'm going to show you something as well," the three former Children agreed.

**5:20pm**

Nine minutes after rehearsal, the three followed Wilfredo to a secluded parking lot two blocks away from school. He showed them how he can fire energy blasts and direct them at random junk scattered around. Shinji and his friends were stunned, "See? You're no different from me so no need for secrecy after this okay," Wilfredo said in a semi-reassuring way.

"All of this is well and all, but we have something else to say…Shinji," Asuka gently urged him forward to face Wilfredo, "Yesterday…I put a man into a coma," Wilfredo's eyes widened, "But it was an accident! I didn't mean to…with my abilities and…" Shinji said and looked downward to the floor.

"Okay! Okay! If it was an accident, I could help out! But why would you come to me? I mean…you guys seem to hang out with Danny and his friends a lot, before and after rehearsals," Wilfredo reassured Shinji and pointed the strangeness of the situation.

Dante and Asuka looked at each other and she gave Dante the okay to explain a bit, "We also know about his abilities, but you seem to be the more 'real' about it. Sure Danny's heroic, but we're neither anti-heroes nor do we wish to be heroes. We just…we just want some sort of normalcy," Dante tried to explain but thought it wasn't enough to convince their new, genuine American friend.

Wilfredo stood silent for a few moments and shivered in the cold, "Okay, I now know where you three stand," the three foreign teens silently sighed with relief, "I'll help with what I can, but first I need to know where he fell into a coma and which hospital he was admitted to," Wilfredo explained and the three agreed to his conditions.

The teenagers decided to head for the hospital on Friday afterschool to search for the 20 something year old. They then went their separate ways and as Wilfredo caught a bus to head back to his home and family, the bus stopped and the boy got on. He then sat next to Wilfredo and for the rest of the way, neither one of them spoke a word to each other. When the bus stopped in front of Wilfredo's apartment building, the two got off and stood in front of one another.

"**Você ****falou com eles ****não é mesmo?** (You talked to them haven't you?)," the boy asked, "**Sim, falei.** (Yeah, I did.)," he answered. The boy breathed in and out, "**Pelo menos você pode dizer que não est**ão** mentindo, mas eles t**êm** algumas informações vitais sobre seu passado.**(At least you can tell they're not lying but they're holding some vital information about their pasts.)," the boy confirmed Wilfredo's suspicions.

Wilfredo adjusted the strap of his backpack and cello case, "**Eu sei, mas eu não vou força-los a dizer nada, como eu poderia ter mencionado a você antes. **(I know, but I'm not going to force anything out of them as I might've mentioned to you before.)," he said, "**É claro, mas tem cuidado com eles. De certa forma, suas habilidades são muito mais perigosa que as do Danny. **(Of course, but just be careful with them. On one level, their abilities are far more dangerous than Danny's.)," the boy warned. He then walked away while Wilfredo headed for his apartment. The boy then clutched his bleeding side, "**Merda.** (Shit.)"

**Thursday, 4:45pm**

The musicians took a break from rehearsal while Professor Moradi went to get some new music scores to discuss with the teenage musicians. Zane pulled out his Dell laptop and Dante connected the classroom computer to his laptop to check out the website, to see if there are any problems to fix. Instead they noticed three video messages from three different teenagers their age: The names were _Cecilia Chaves Oliveira_, a Brazilian dancer, drummer, and capoeira student from Salvador, Brazil, _Ahmed Said_ is a teenage boy violinist from Beirut, Lebanon, and _Fatma Hahira Asgari_ another violinist of Iranian descent from Istanbul, Turkey.

The three spoke good English with slight accents and while Wilfredo, Alberto and Zane handled the recent logins and chatting with Cecilia and Ahmed, Dante volunteered to help out and talk to Fatma (since Gilberto attempted to flirt with Asuka again), with whom after a while the two talked animatedly. Both talked in English, as well in Italian, which surprised him. She was simply hot with her thick black hair, strong brown eyes, a healthy curvaceous figure and a mind Dante's quickly finding fiercely attractive. She was globally aware, a Westernized student who can speak six languages, one more than himself (Farsi, Palestinian Arabic, Italian, English, and Azeri an Iranian dialect), her superb talent on the violin and viola, and had Dante trying to keep up, a new and exciting experience.

With the other three, they found out Ahmed and Cecilia are not only similarly talented on their respective instruments as Fatma, but also also multi-lingual [Ahmed can speak Arabic, French, English and a bit of Armenian; and Cecilia can speak Spanish, English, French, and of course Portuguese]. Another trait the three had in common was their non-religious outlook, despite being raised in a Muslim, a Zoroaster, or even a Catholic/Candomble household.

Despite the obvious time differences between them and a sometimes fucked up Internet connection, they managed to chat for a good 15 minutes before Moradi came back and introduced himself to the three online teenagers. He also said if the three were interested to join the group, he would send period instruments to their homes (a process still shrouded in mystery to the group). They enthusiastically accepted and Zane offered to start a live online connection so the three could join in on their rehearsals.

The rehearsal continued and the musicians had to quit their chats with the now newest members, much to their slight hesitation. Wilfredo and Alberto playfully ball busted each other for obviously drooling over Cecilia while Dante couldn't get Fatma out of his mind, he was crushing bad and Asuka was savoring the moment where her Italian colleague was finally head over heels for a girl...she teased the hell out of him.

After rehearsal, Shinji took Wil to the spot where his assault occurred.

**Friday, 1:37pm**

Wilfredo was working out during his P.E. class. The boys with a few willing girls worked out in the weight room while the rest played basketball or dodge ball. He was doing pull ups and looked at himself in the mirror that spanned the entire wall he was facing. He observed how his body got more toned since last year and at the other students doing their own thing. He did one last pull up, numbering at 43 and let himself fall and landed on his feet.

He then felt someone tapping his shoulder and it was the boy. Wilfredo was surprised that no one could see him, "Don't worry, no one around can hear on our conversation," he indeed was correct. When Wilfredo looked at the mirror again, he saw himself doing sit ups and had his thinking expression on.

He then turned back to the boy and resumed their impromptu conversation, "Cool technique, but why are you here? Usually we meet when no one else is around," Wilfredo pointed out this sudden surprise visit from an entity that is essentially unknown and potentially dangerous.

"Today you're planning to head for the hospital to see if you can get that man out of his coma faster correct," the boy asked, "Yeah," Wilfredo replied simply, "If you want I can come with you as a safety net. In case you run the risk of whiting out with him when he dies," the boy offered his assistance.

Wilfredo pondered the offer for a moment and saw himself doing push ups, "That would be a good idea. I wouldn't want to experience what happened last year," he pointed out. The boy was about to reply but then his face formed a frightened expression and looking passed Wilfredo towards the mirror. This was the first time he ever saw the boy looking scared over anything. He turned around and saw something unexpected…a soldier pointing his rifle directly at the boy. What surprised Wil was the soldier's outfit, it resembled the uniform Francisco Franco's soldiers wore whenever they invaded or simply wiped out people who even uttered anything positive for the Republicans.

The unknown man gave a wicked smile and fired his rifle. The sound made Wilfredo flinched from the sound and turned around immediately and noticed the boy on the floor clutching the wound where he normally bleeds from.

"So this is why…" Wil began to mutter but then the boy rushed toward him and grasped his face with his free hand, "Listen," he strained his voice, "This will involve you and your friends in the very near future…but you have other priorities…and that is to head for the hospital and get that man out of his near white out. Got it?"

Wil nodded frightfully, "Good now…" he let go of his face but still had his hand in front of Wilfredo's face and a bright light blasted his face. He blinked again and found himself doing squats in front of the mirror. He stopped and stood up straight, he then looked around and noticed the only classmates who knew his abilities, Danny and Sam.

**5:13pm**

Outside was raining as it had been for the entire day. Cars were stuck in traffic and of course there were accidents. Wilfredo stood in front of the hospital where the comatose man stayed at, but he wasn't alone, Dante, Asuka and Shinji were there as well. To the three foreign teenagers surprise Wil's friend Zane accompanied them. Zane explained he knew of Wil's abilities since childhood and was somewhat surprised at Wil's revelation of the three's abilities, but held himself back from asking too many questions.

They headed inside and asked the receptionist to see the man who was admitted in the ICU for a coma. She asked if they were the man's friends or family, they lied about being the former. She checked them in, pointed them to the elevator, and told them he was located on the sixth floor.

When they got in the elevator, the teenage musicians were lost in their thoughts and Wilfredo remembered a 'nice chat' he had with Danny and Sam after P.E. and the minutes that followed when they headed for their sixth period class.

_[Flashback-2:05pm]_

_The bell rang and the students headed for their sixth period class. Many were anxious for the day to end so they can stay inside their homes and keep warm. However, for Wilfredo the weekend was the only time of the week where he didn't have to deal with the constant vigilant watch of Danny and his friends._

_Danny and Sam rushed for Wil as he headed for his English class, "Wil! Wil! What the hell happened in the weight room," he asked Wil, "Nothing happened…I just spaced out. It happens when someone is in the zone. Duh," Wilfredo said impatiently as he walked. He hated being late, but Danny wasn't going to let him out of it easily, "Don't be like that. I sensed you were doing something with him. And you saw something. What was it," Danny pushed and Wil was near his limits of tolerating him getting to close._

_In front of his class, he face Danny and Sam, "Look, I'm grateful for your concern, especially with what happened last year. But don't push it," then Sam stepped forward, "Dude I don't know what's your problem with us, but we're only trying to help. You could at least show from fucking gratitude," she said clearly annoyed with Wil's behavior._

_Then Wilfredo smirked, "I also know the three people you two and Tucker hang out with afterschool…and their interesting abilities," this made Danny and Sam gasped, "How did-how did you find out," Danny asked curiously, "They told me. And don't worry; I didn't have to use my 'mindreading' abilities on them. Or on you two for that matter," Wil said and entered the classroom, followed by Danny and Sam._

_The three took their respective seats and when the final bell rang, their English professor took roll. After doing so, the students took out their textbooks and notebooks. Danny then passed a piece of folded paper to Sam who sat next to him; she opened the folded paper and read the not:_

'_I don't what to do with Wil or Dante or Asuka or even Shinji. I'm not getting sleep because that kid and Shinji's memories are flashing in my head. Plus with you as my…as my…anyway, I'm scared shitless! I need you…and Tucker to find out anything from the EVA Units and to find out anything on that kid who killed Vlad. Please.'_

_Sam looked at Danny and grasped his left hand; he then looked at her and gave a small smile. Then the two paid attention to the subject of iambic pentameter, before their professor caught their private moment. They then took a quick glance at Wil who just jotted down notes and made comments on Shakespeare and his style of writing._

The elevator door opened and the teenagers made their way to room 524. They took off their winter coats and held them under their armpits or just on their forearms close to their chest. Once in front of the room, they met the nurse and asked for some time to see him. She said only two at a time are permitted to visit, the five teens agreed.

"Okay, Wil and I will go in first and when you think no one else is around send in Shinji okay," Zane said laying out the plan.

"Of course," Asuka said and Dante took out a 10€ bill, "This is for…whatever you're planning to do," he held it in front of Wil, but he pushed it back to Dante, "Thanks, but I'm doing this because I like you guys. Even if your pasts are clouded by tragedy and uncertainty," Dante was surprised, so was Asuka and Shinji. Wil and Zane then entered the room and closed the door behind them.

"**Come cazzo ha fatto saperlo?** (How the hell did he know)," Dante asked under hushed tones to Asuka, "**Teufel, wenn ich wei****ß****.** (Hell if I know.)," Asuka responded simply. Shinji just stood quietly; only feeling the aura Wilfredo was producing within the area. It was intimidating, it almost reminded him of Rei or Kaoru…almost.

"You should really stop talking like you're some sort of famous writer Wil," Zane said quietly. Wil chuckled, "Yeah I know," the two stood over the comatose man. Wilfredo then walked around the bed to observe if there were any more injuries to the head. He noticed the dried up blood at the eyes' edges, and also the get-well cards the man's family and friends laid out on the bedpost.

He then rolled up his sweater's sleeves and grasped the man's head, "Zane, close the curtains a bit please," Zane complied and closed them enough so a bit of the daylight that's left is focused on the man's face. Wilfredo opened the eyelids and noticed his eyes were rolled back, revealing nothing but the whiteness of the eyeballs.

"Shit," he muttered but persevered. His eyes glowed slightly and noticed the different breathing pattern the man produced, "Oh shit! I need Shinji for this," he said out loud, "You sure," Zane asked, "Yes because I need to know and see how Shinji put this fucking idiot in a coma in the first place. We only have a few minutes before the nurse kicks us out," Zane immediately understood and went to get Shinji.

"Shinji get in here," Zane yelled and grabbed his arm. He closed the door behind them and pushed the Japanese boy to Wilfredo, "What do you want me to do," Shinji asked, "Show me how you did this," Wilfredo let go of the man's face and dragged Shinji to his position.

Shinji however didn't know what to do but try to recreate the aura he projected, "I-I don't know how to explain it how I did this," he said in the best English he could, "Don't explain. Just show me how your abilities reacted to the situation," Wil demanded. Shinji shakily agreed. He shook his hands and outlined the man's head with his hands. He let the aura manifest itself and soon his hands glowed in a similar manner from two days ago.

Wilfredo watched and placed his hands on Shinji's head startling the poor dude. Wil's eyes rolled back and saw the memories Shinji had with monstrous creatures, an indifferent father, faint images of his mother, a pale girl and boy with red eyes, school friends, a caring guardian, and the one feeling that encapsulated all of these images…loneliness; just as the first time he sensed these images last month.

Then the images came from the man himself, images of his life up to this point. Wilfredo wanted this; it was a way to help him, even if the man possibly deserved it for attempting to harm Shinji.

Shinji's breathing grew more hoarse and gasped, as did Wil behind. Then a pulse of energy emanated from the man and threw the two to the floor, landing on their ass, "**くそ！ ****Merda!** (Shit)," the two muttered in Portuguese and Japanese.

Then the three boys exited the room, thanked the nurse and the teenagers headed for the elevator for downstairs. They didn't say a word to each other until they were a good enough distance away from the hospital. The rain stopped.

On the bus they started talking, "So what happened in there," Dante asked while looking out the window, "The man was experiencing a total mind trip. He basically saw his entire life flashing by in images. All cut up and brief, both the wonderful and the painful. But the images that came to him the most were from the recent past up to now," he looked at Zane and sighed, "He's a junkie basically."

Shinji looked at him confused. Wilfredo looked at him, "Someone who's addicted to drugs. In this case crack," he explained and Shinji understood. He saw a lot of that when he lived in Kyoto.

"So Shinji here made him go through an internal hell," Asuka pointed out, "In a way, but it depends on what can be called hell Asuka," he then looked at the German girl who shifted uneasily in her seat. She remembered her own trip to hell after the Angel attacked her mind, "I can relate too…in a way," he then looked out the window. Zane looked at him and put his arm around him. Wil's face made a grimaced smile.

Dante viewed the outside world passing by and the clouds above threatening to unleash another downpour of icy rain. He always thought of himself as an agnostic, raised in a Catholic and Buddhist family he never gave the spiritual aspect of life a second thought, but always marveled at life's complexity. Today with what Wilfredo had done to reverse the damage Shinji unintentionally caused…well he still had doubts, as any healthy skeptic should.

The teenagers got off at the Skulk and Lurk bookstore. They clutched their coats close to their bodies, trying to ward off the cold. They shook hands and went their separate ways. Zane and Wilfredo headed for Wil's home while Shinji, Asuka, and Dante headed back to Sam's home.

The three walked home lost in their thoughts except for Shinji, _'私はそれをしたと信じて...と完全な見知らぬ人にすることはできません。その男が私を攻撃するためにそれに値する場合であっても、彼はその天使は、彼女の心を攻撃するときに明日香が持っていたような彼の思い出を追体験することはふさわしくありません。(I can't believe I did that…and to a complete stranger. Even if that man deserved it for attacking me, he doesn't deserve to relive his memories like Asuka had when that Angel attacked her mind.),' _images of that fateful day and the weeks that followed flashed in his mind. When she became more withdrawn, the moment when she ran away, her birthday that happened before, the moment she and himself almost shared a moment together in Hokkaido, _'奇妙な。(Strange.),' _he then looked at Asuka who also was lost in her own thoughts, _'これらのような瞬間のたびに...私は彼女を考える。なぜ？私たちはより良いこれらの過去数週間に沿って取得しているにもかかわらず...私は感じて...彼女に向かって何かを。(Every time in moments like these…I think of her. Why? Even though we're getting along better these past weeks…I feel…something towards her.)'_

Shinji took another glace at her and slowly, but surely moved his right hand and within a short moment, he hand clenched onto hers. She reacted by looking at him curiously who just looked forward in front of him, also lost in his thoughts. She adjusted her hand so both hands were intertwined, right down to the tips of their fingers. Then she looked forward while adjusting her scarf to ward off the cold. They got home; just in time before the rain fell again. Dante entered first then followed by Asuka who let go of Shinji's hand and finally Shinji, who saw a songbird fly away.

**I forgot to mention that the Antonio Vivaldi piece mentioned in the recent chapter was one from an album performed by Concerto Italiano conducted by Rinaldo Alessandrini. The album is Concerti per archi. The other piece mentioned by Telemann can be found in the album Telemann: String Concertos. Performed by Musica Antiqua Koln, conducted by Reinhard Goebel.**

**This chapter is hinting a Shinji and Asuka pairing, while Dante is crushing on Fatma who will show up more predominantly, starting in the 2006 part of arc one, along with Ahmed and Cecilia. They'll be mentioned again in the next chapter, but I won't mention them again, until again in 2006. So again, read, review, and critique. I would also like to thank HolyDragoon for helping out with the Portuguese bit. Ciao.**


	5. March 2005

**LES MUSICIENS**

**2005**

**A Crossover Story**

**This chapter was largely inspired by the track "Can I be forgiven" from the 21 Grams soundtrack. As well as partly inspired from the track "Take a Little Hand" from the Ghost in the Shell: Solid State Society soundtrack.**

**Also in this chapter, there would be two full-fledged concert moments for the musicians. Performing three pieces of music, one by Antonio Vivaldi and two by obscure German and Italian composers during the reign of Queen Cristina of Sweden. The pieces speak on a level that I can never put to words, but I will try here with the characters performing it. One piece of flamboyant passion balanced with two introspective, melancholic pieces.**

**After adjusting to a new reality, things are looking up. Even the promise of love and acceptance isn't quite far-fetched as it once seemed. But the promise of future love needs to be tempered with the reality of life's evanescence, especially with memories of family.**

**Chapter Four**

Wilfredo hung the wet laundry on the roof on the clothing lines his family put up when they first moved in. Like most other Latino, Hispanic, or in their case, Iberian families, using drying machines was expensive so they opted for the sun whenever it was out to dry.

The forecast for the week was pretty good, it was still cold but the sun will mostly be out. Of course overcast was the norm, but as long the clothes got dry, it didn't matter to the families in the building.

As Wil hung the clothing, he tapped his fingers on his upper left thigh. He tapped to the rhythm of a piece he and Shinji were about to perform in the coming evening. It was a piece for two cellos and two violins, "At least the piece requires both parts to kick ass and not just the show off performances of the violins," he said out loud to himself.

He then resumed to tap his fingers as he headed downstairs and laze around. He closed the door behind him.

**March 2005, week two, Friday, 6:35pm**

The group began playing the piece they selected for the evening, **Antonio Vivaldi's Concerto for two violins, two cellos, strings and continuo in D major RV 564. **In the beginning, Asuka and Gilberto took the reins on leading the strings, and then came the area where Wilfredo and Shinji provided their own color to the piece. As if the violins and cellos were having a conversation. The violins were flamboyant in their expression and the cellos were the accompaniment, but held the spotlight.

Over the course of the few months that passed, Wil and his friends have become confident with their performances. Shinji and his friends on the other hand were surprised by the demands of Professor Moradi. With his demands, assistance, and warm seriousness while playing pushed their playing to new heights. Overall, the teenagers have started to express themselves in their playing while maintaining excellent technique.

Albeit the criticisms from local high school bands accused them for abandoning traditional methods of playing for period performance style. Most local music teachers have called it pretentious. Moradi defended his position fiercely as did the musicians.

Also, many high school students have begun to appreciate the baroque repertoire for its many changes in emotional colors, going from happy upbeat moments to dark moments in the minor keys. Mostly because they developed sensuality in their playing, which not only surprised the musicians but also the students as well. Since many thought of classical music as stuffy and only reserved for adults, but the group's style of playing was becoming increasingly like what many can find in period ensembles nowadays; in particularly, the ensembles of Europe who have greater connection to this genre of music than others.

The slow movement of the concerto showed how they worked to achieve the emotion needed to perform music effectively. Since they were young, many thought they could only perform the fast allegros brilliantly but would forget to play the slow movements with the same energy as the fast allegros, albeit pacing the vibrant energy. Under the direction of Professor Moradi however, who has studied in European conservatories led the young players to the right area of performing.

When the last movement came on, they jumped on it readily. The tempo and melody had the students bobbing their heads slightly, even if they had the semi-bored expressions on their faces. Asuka and Gilberto were flamboyant while in the slow movement they were putting more nostalgic and melancholic feelings into their playing, but since the piece was in a major key they had to tone it back slightly as in the fast allegro movements. Wilfredo and Shinji played with equal virility as did the other string players; Dante's playing on the harpsichord improved in portraying emotion, even though it lacked the loudness and softness of a modern piano.

When the piece ended, the audience clapped respectfully. While the other music students of the school, even those from the university who heard about this via the group's now active website clapped enthusiastically. There were some regular students who commented that they were cool, for classical musicians. While the others, in particularly the jocks and cheerleaders didn't like them due to their choices in music. Their opinions were never taken for consideration by anyone, since the group was nothing like anything the school has ever had in years.

Then another group of performers and musicians took the stage. The school now had weekly music nights for the students to attend with their parents. Alberto and other woodwind players didn't participate in the performance due to the piece didn't require woodwind instruments or his theorbo… he complained about it for a while. But he was consoled that in a couple of days, he would have a chance to perform two pieces with the group. The two pieces selected were not just by Moradi alone, in fact two senior students pushed for these two pieces to be performed.

The reasons were to develop their talents on playing slow pieces that only require a handful of instrumentalists. And for the two upcoming pieces of music, they also needed someone to perform on a box organ. Luckily, Dante volunteered to learn the instrument. He started to learn the instrument weeks in advance without the need for permission or being told for its necessity. It was a major challenge for him due to the different mechanics of playing, so he talked to some local organists from local churches on how to play and was given tips. Alberto prepared himself by practicing the blues, hoping to find some way to connect the beautiful music to students who under normal circumstances would even think of listening to this music. He first practiced on his trusty guitar, then on an old mandolin his father bought for him and finally on his theorbo.

Then came the issue for the two leading violin players Asuka and Gilberto. While one required both of them, the other piece only needed one violin to play the major theme. The two bickered but Moradi ultimately decided on Asuka to perform the second slow piece. His reasons were that she had a true melancholic feel to her playing when playing the slow largos. She didn't comment but she knew he had a point; she along with Shinji and Dante had some melancholic feel to their playing when it came to pieces in minor keys and the slow largo movements between the two fast-paced allegro movements.

After the musicians gathered their belongings and put their instruments into their respective cases, they headed for home with their parents, leaving the three foreigners to take the bus home. While Dante and Asuka chatted in a mixture of German and Italian, discussing the details of the two melancholic pieces, Shinji looked at Asuka's back of the head. He opened his left hand and then clenched it tight. He repeated this over and over until they got to Sam's home within seven minutes. They got off and headed inside…Shinji didn't pay attention to the Europeans' conversation, but he did focus on Asuka.

**Sunday 2:24pm**

Shinji was taking a nap in his room after eating a decent lunch Dante cooked with the aid of Asuka. It was a modest spread with some cooked squid salad, another salad with fresh seasonal vegetables, pasta to go with it on the side, and some grilled meat medium rare (Asuka didn't feel like eating squid). Sam's parents and Sam thanked him for the lunch and said it was a nice change, even though Sam helped herself to the pasta mostly.

_Dante playfully teased her with some squid, until he relented. She knew he was only playing around, "At least you're not eating a cow," she said directly to Asuka with playful sarcasm._

"_Hey, it's been a while since I ate something 'off the hoof' as you Americans would say," she said and finished her thought, "And the only one here who needs it more is Ikari. Come on! Put some muscle on!" Asuka then laughed good-naturedly along with Dante. Sam gave a light chuckle while her parents looked on to see the good sight of the four teenagers being in a good mood._

Shinji looked up at the ceiling and smiled at the recent memory, and at the thought he's been having for a while now. He hadn't talked to Dante about it, or even to Danny or his friends, he felt he had to do this on his own. He got off the bed and headed for Asuka's room.

Asuka in her room was looking at the one photo she had left from Tokyo-03, a photo of her mother and herself on a sunny cloudy day in the outskirts of Berlin. She laid on her bed on her right side facing the door. She fiddled the photo with her hand until she set it aside behind her and continued to face the door lost in thought.

Then the door opened, "Asuka…may I come in," he asked in English and through the opened door which only had his voice travel in. Asuka got up and sat in the lotus position, "Yeah. Come in," she said and he did.

He closed the door behind him and walked toward Asuka's bed, but he didn't sit down with her this time. He stood in front of her, "I…uh, I have something to ask," he began and Asuka gestured her hand for him to continue, "Right. I…I was wondering if you want to…if you want I mean…to go out on a d-date with m-me?"

Asuka's eyes widened at Shinji's offer, "Wow. I didn't think you would want to, when you consider our history together. Albeit brief, but we never had the best experiences together," Asuka explained the slightly weird aspect of a date between them.

"I know, but right now it feels like its ages ago. Another lifetime, so…what do you say? Tuesday afternoon? Moradi won't have a rehearsal planned and Dante would be hanging out with Wil and his friends. If you want, our date could be our chance to talk about what we went through. What do you say," Shinji offered and pushed a bit, which was a new side to him, and she found it intriguing.

"Okay. All right, Tuesday then," she gave a soft smile and Shinji felt himself relax, but also nervous for a minute, "O-Okay…right then," he turned around and headed back to his room.

Asuka lied down again and faced the ceiling, a smile forming on her face, _'Shinji…asking me out on a date. I wonder why now? Has he finally adjusted to this new reality? I know I have and so has Dante. But Shinji…I wonder what he's planning for Tuesday?'_

She then remembered the moments back in Tokyo-03 where she harassed him to the point of incoherence. Where she had forgotten at certain times why she pushed Shinji to experience emotions he's not used to. There were times where she got the feeling Shinji might even hate her due to the mistreatment. As she recalled, she's starting to have doubts about the upcoming date, whether or not she would endure a few hours alone with the former Third Child without falling back into a defensive wall pushing others away.

Shinji began walking back to his room and was met with Dante outside his room, "Dante. H-Hi," he felt nervous, he didn't know why, "Shinji, asked Asuka out didn't you?"

Shinji stiffened a bit, but maintained his composure, "Yeah, yeah I have," Dante gave a soft expression, "Okay," Dante then walked passed Shinji and headed for his room until, "Dante wait," he stopped, "I was wondering if you don't tell any of this to Danny, Sam or any of the others. I don't want them to look into this and say 'Oh wow they've made progress and going on the road to recovery'. So please, not a word okay," Shinji asked and Dante agreed.

"Right no problem. Just have fun on Tuesday and…if the date doesn't go well for either of you, you know it isn't going to ruin anything. I mean, we've been through hell and we deserve this," Dante reasoned and Shinji had a half smile form on his face.

"You have a point…thanks," Dante nodded and headed inside his room and Shinji headed for his.

Shinji closed the door behind him and sat on his bed then lied down. In the fetal position he closed his eyes and random thoughts over the time he and his friends have spent in the US. But the only memory that's still fresh in his mind was when he put the assailant into an accidental coma. Although Wilfredo has assured him the man is making a steady recovery, Shinji was still unsure about something. If he put that man into a coma, could he put his friends in a similar state if he wasn't careful? This revelation terrified him, but he wasn't going to run this time as he had done in the past. He was going to confront this growing dilemma with his friends, even when they will have to separate in the coming months.

Dante looked at the only thing he had left from Tokyo-03, his mother's rosary and his played with it between his fingers. He viewed it as a stress reliever or something to help him organize his thoughts and memories of his hypomanic and depressive episodes. He then looked out the window and noticed a songbird with another. Spring was coming, many felt it in the air and for the former Children, and it was an experience to savor the changing of the seasons.

**Monday 5:14pm**

The man Shinji put in a coma weeks earlier has fully recovered, as reported by Wilfredo who continued the charade of being a friend of the family. Outside, he watched the family hugging the man and his friends did the same thing, they got in their cars and headed for parts unknown. Wilfredo watched the scene unfold, didn't know if the family forgave the man for his drug habits or even if the man would turn his life around. At this point, Wil could care less about the man who nearly injured Shinji just for some drugs, but whatever the circumstances, under great self-control, he couldn't judge the man.

Once the cars were out of sight, Wil adjusted his jacket, the strap of his cello case and headed for home. The bus ride was somewhat long due to traffic and the recent rainstorm. After 23 minutes he arrived back to his neighborhood and noticed the boy sitting at the bus bench, "Every time I go somewhere and come back there you are," the boy smiled meekly.

Wil then sat next to him, "What is it now? Who was that man in the mirror? Why did he shoot you? How old are you," he ultimately asked and the boy finally looked at him, "Why would you ask the last question?"

"Because that man, who ever he was wore the same uniform the Spanish Fascist Party wore under the leadership of Francisco Franco. And you said last month that it will involve me in some form. Do I have some connection to him or to what my grandparents went through back then," Wil said and was desperate to know before things got out of hand.

The boy sighed, "I know you want to know. But you already know your family history and what they went through during the years of Salazar and Franco. The peninsula suffered during last century and now they're just getting to look at themselves in the mirror and not be ashamed of what they see."

"Like the two of us," Wil added and the boy nodded in agreement staring out into the street, "I wonder if I could face what I've done in the past…and what I went through," the boy then looked at him again, "When Shinji put that man in a comatose state…I was just reminded of what I've done too. Accidental of course but I'm still racked with guilt."

The boy got up and rubbed Wil's hair gently, "Its normal. I'm still haunted by what I've done," another bus came and the boy got on. As the boy rode away, Wil headed for his apartment. The cold felt less vicious to Wil's skin, another sign spring was coming sooner than normal.

**Tuesday 1:12pm, downtown Philadelphia**

Shinji and Asuka walked in downtown, far from the Amity district and far from anyone familiar. They have alerted their guardians ahead of time about their plans for the afternoon so they wouldn't worry. The forecast today was favorable, a little bit of overcast and no hint of rain for the day. The two wore light jackets and jeans instead of the heavier coats and thermal underwear. The traffic that passed was more intense than what they were used to in Amity, not that they were unfamiliar with downtown. The three former Children usually head for downtown with their guardians whenever their embassies needed the paper work necessary for the adoption agencies in the countries they've chosen.

On this day, the two didn't plan to discuss their fast coming futures, or the idea of separating once that day comes. Instead they talked about whatever came to mind, usually the topic of Les Musiciens came up and how their new, diverse American friends have been understanding, ball busting, and overall just fun to hang out with. Although they still liked to hang out with Danny and his friends, they're mostly focused on their growing abilities and for some issues revolving around Wilfredo, they don't hang out much with him. The former Children didn't understand why, but put it in the back of their minds for now.

For lunch they ate at something Asuka was surprisingly familiar with, a Vietnamese restaurant and throughout the beginning of their date the two spoke in English. Shinji's English has improved tremendously over the course of nearly three months, speaking in near complete sentences. Thanks to the help of his comrades and the Americans.

"This Pho is delicious! But it's spicy," Shinji exclaimed while airing his mouth, "I told you! Don't go crazy with adding the condiments! Jesus you really are an idiot," Asuka said playfully and semi-hiding her mirth. Shinji looked at her while drinking his Thai Ice Tea and taking another mouthful of Pho.

"Maybe so, but I want to try something I never had, even back in Kyoto I never tried Vietnamese food. Hmm, you could call me a 'bumbling fool' if you want," Shinji playfully flirted back. He didn't know where this comfort around Asuka came from, but he liked it.

Asuka gave a howling laugh, "Shinji trust me, you're anything but a bumbling fool. More like a sexually frustrated **menkui**," she teased playfully and finished her Pho.

Shinji blushed intensely, "Hey! I didn't just ask you out because you're hot," Asuka eyed him curiously as she began eating a Banh Mi sandwich, "I mean…you are hot, but that's not the only reason. I mean…shit," Shinji cursed and Asuka gave a small chuckle.

"I know, I'm just teasing you a bit that's all," she said and playfully ruffled his hair, "You don't have to tease me all the time you."

Asuka took a sip of her soda, "Hey teasing is my way of seeing if you can stand up for yourself. And from what I'm seeing so far, you're definitely developing one."

Shinji looked at her and he grimaced a bit, "I always had a backbone, I just…well you know," he said quietly and she knew, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring back bad memories for you. How are you handling them?"

Shinji looked at her, "Pretty good. Its just, the therapy sessions encouraged by Jazz just involve a lot of talking. And for the things that happened to us, the Angels, the EVA, everyone involved, my father…everyday now those things are just being forgotten. And I'm glad I'm forgetting them," he said somewhat relieved to express himself to Asuka.

She took another bite of her beef sandwich and sipped the last of her soda, "So…you would rather forget what happened to us," she asked. Shinji thought over his old friends, Misato especially and Kaji, "Not entirely, there were some good moments."

Asuka was now intrigued, "I mean…take the both of us for example. There were few good moments, but we were both lost in our pasts. We…we couldn't relate to each other because we were so similar to one another. But you drew strength, and I admired that. I wanted it…and when you ran away and fought the Mass Produced EVA…I knew I couldn't run away anymore. I had to stay," he wanted to continue, but knew any more words would make his revelation redundant.

Asuka didn't know what to say; she never knew Shinji was this observant. All she did was reach over and caressed the bangs that covered Shinji's forehead away from his eyes. He tensed a bit and looked at her curiously, "So, where do you want to go after we finish lunch here," Asuka asked softly.

Shinji continued to look at her and smiled, "Well, I want to go to an art museum. I never been to one," he admitted, "How come," she asked. Shinji shrugged his shoulders, "Never seem to have the time."

"Well we got time now," she said warmly and the two looked at one another, "Yeah…we do," Shinji added murmured, Asuka heard and subtly smiled.

**Back in Amity**

Dante hung out with Wilfredo and his friends Alberto, Gilberto and Zane. They were eating at the Nasty Burger and Wilfredo was preparing to throw a French fry into Dante's open mouth.

"Come on! Do it man," Alberto shouted and Wilfredo gave a wolfish grin. He threw it and Dante caught it between his teeth. He ate it and grinned.

"Jesus! Man you rule," Zane said loudly. Dante shrugged his shoulders, "My turn," he said and playfully threw a fry at Wilfredo's face, "Ah! Dude!"

"You threw a fry at my face earlier so why not repay it by doing the same thing," Dante asked and Wil gave him the finger, "I'll sue you ass! Just you watch," Wil said in a faux-Texan accent. Dante rolled his eyes, "Ah you Americans. You people sue for anything and everything," he said in a faux-French accent.

"You got that right," Wil continued with the accent, "We own the world and can do whatever we want!" Dante laughed out loud as did the others.

The boys continued to eat their lunches they headed out. Like Asuka and Shinji they wore light jackets for the day, "Say where are Asuka and Shinji," Gilbert couldn't help but ask.

"I told you, they went out," Dante said as he searched a song to listen on his iPod, "Yeah I know but where did they go," Gilberto continued to ask, "Why are you so curious," Alberto asked in place of Dante, "N-No reason," Gilberto slightly stammered.

Dante smirked a bit, "If you must know those two went on a date," the boys looked at him, "What! You're serious," Gilberto asked sounding crestfallen, "Yep," Dante stated simply and found the song, "Witness (1 Hope)" by Roots Manuva.

"Jesus, tough luck dude," Zane emphatically said, "I know. Asuka was hot! Damn it," Gilberto said frustrated, "Should've asked her out a long time ago," now defeated.

Dante smirked at his friend's reaction. Zane then looked at the Italian, "Hey, do those two have a history together," he asked. Dante looked at him, "Why do you ask," Zane shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know, you three hang around a lot so…I figured."

Dante gave a half-smile, "A history together doesn't begin to describe what…they went through," he said and shut off his iPod. Too distracted to listen and hung his headphones around his neck.

"You mean like what you went through with those scars on your arms," Wilfredo pointed out and his friends looked at him and at Dante, "You noticed huh," he said shyly. He then rolled up his sleeves and showed them the faint scars that remained and the largest one that nearly ended his life.

"It was from…from another life let me put it that way," Dante said somewhat quietly and slightly ashamed. Wilfredo put his hand on his shoulder, "Hey man, we don't judge like that. As long as you don't do it now and worked your shit out, its all right," Dante gave Wil and his friends a light smile.

"I'm far from done dealing with my shit," he then cracked his neck to relieve some tension, "But it's a process," the boys gave a smile of their own, signaling their understanding.

"Okay enough of that. Dante, dude, do I still have a chance with 'Red'," Gilberto asked and Dante gave a laugh, "I don't think so. I mean…I just flirt with her, but that's all she'll allow between us," Gilberto cursed under his breath, "He's got it bad for Asuka doesn't he," he whispered to Zane and Alberto, "Let me put it this way, he wrote her name on his violin," Alberto confirmed, "Also, made passionate declarations prior to each concert," Zane confirmed as well. Both were loud enough for Gilberto to hear.

"Jesus Christ! I get it you guys," he said frustrated, "Damn, Shinji's a lucky bastard," he said but held no malice. Dante raised his eyebrows a bit and gave a silent chuckled, _'Shinji and Asuka are lucky. And so am I,' _he thought. He then watched as both Zane and Alberto teased Gilberto, he smiled inwardly. The scene reminded him of his old friends back in Rome.

Dante then glanced at Wilfredo who stared in his direction, "What is it," he asked, "Nothing…just lost in thought," Wil answered. Dante eyed him curiously since the knowledge of Wil's abilities was now in the open, but he didn't put much thought on it. As they walked, they continued to talk and playfully ball bust each other.

**On the freeway, 4:35pm**

Shinji and Asuka rode the express bus back to the Amity district from the city's waterfront. During the trip the two didn't talk much, just savored their time together and at moments held each other's hands. The scenery of cars passing by at high speeds, the clouds at the horizon, the increasing dark near the end of the day, and moments where birds fly in flocks for unknown resting stops. Shinji enjoyed moments like these and was glad to at least, describe them to Asuka on their date in downtown. He found her hand comforting and strengthening.

'_Her hand is warm and strong…I want to hold it a while longer, she feels…nostalgic and welcoming.'_

Asuka on the other hand enjoyed watching people boarding the bus and leaving, seeing the horde of humanity changing its hues of skin, clothing, the way they held themselves and what they talked about. Whenever Shinji grabbed her hand, she looked at him who would always look out the window. His hand felt tender, but held an unknown strength that surprised her.

'_His hand is surprisingly strong, despite its frail appearance. What other surprises does he have hidden?'_

She continued to listen to her iPod and Shinji continued to look out the window. After 12 minutes, the two arrived back in the Amity district, stopping just on the outskirts. The two knew the area; it was near Wilfredo's neighborhood but instead of taking another bus back to their neighborhood, they decided to walk home. Sure, it was a 30-minute walk, but the two wanted to prolong the date a bit longer.

**Thursday 9:48am**

Two days before the concert and Dante turned on his computer. After loading, he logged on into his MySpace account and clicked on the video chat icon. He quickly checked to see if the microphone and camera were working properly and after that, he quickly brushed his hair. After months of internal debate, he decided to cut his thick, black, shoulder length hair to a point where it only covered his ears and forehead.

After a few minutes of waiting, his guest came online; it was Fatma Hahira Asgari and in simplest terms, he had it bad. She wore her hair in a bun and had on her school uniform.

"Good morning Fatma," Dante greeted, "Good afternoon Dante, though in your case good morning," Fatma greeted back. Dante chuckled, "I know, the time differences are annoying to bear."

Fatma smiled, "So, how are things in the United States," she couldn't help but ask, "As I've said last week, bearable. But there are things I find confounding," he explained, "Such as," Fatma urged him to continue.

"Lack of markets on the streets that sell seasonal vegetables, healthcare isn't state funded, many of the teenagers here are totally ignorant, and a lot of people here don't bother to learn about the world unless it somehow involves the US. I could go on, but I've done enough of that in our previous conversations."

Fatma chuckled, "But there are good points right," she asked and he sighed, "Well, the musicians you've met the first time; Zane, Alberto, Gilberto, and Wilfredo especially. Those boys are fantastic at what they do and unlike their classmates and peers, they have a globalized outlook," he said, "Meaning," she urged him to continue, "Their families came from somewhere else, either from Taiwan, Colombia, The Philippines, and Portugal. So for those four blokes…I don't know, things flow rather naturally."

Fatma nodded in understanding, "I know what you're coming from. During my childhood in Istanbul, I wasn't able to connect to others here," she said, "Why," Dante asked curiously.

Fatma gave a look, "I don't know. I guess its because I still had memories of my home in Tehran. My younger sister was born seven months after we first arrived. After that…" before she could continue, she stopped to compose herself.

She gave a half-smile, "I was three at the time…and my father was stuck in Tehran. Only my mother, my sister and myself live in Istanbul," she explained and had a somewhat pained expression on her face. Dante felt a bit of pressure building in his throat, "Was your father's work politically motivated?"

She looked at him, "Yeah…but so was my mother's. But unlike her, my father decided to stay in Tehran," Dante's eyes widened, "He's still alive and sends over presents whenever he's able to for our birthdays and special occasions…but it isn't enough. It can't be enough," Dante noticed how tears threatened to form on Fatma's face, but how she resisted to let them flow confounded him, _'She's a lot stronger than I am…' _he thought for a moment and tried to resume the conversation.

"But you know…things don't entirely suck do they," he said and she looked at him and gave a grimaced smile, "You want to change the subject," he asked softly, "That would be fine. I'm not…entirely willing to share my past, as you are I presume."

Dante nodded, "Agreed, but someday…I'll try to open up more," Fatma could tell he has a lot of pain to deal with, even from their earlier conversations she knew it involved family, "You don't have to you know," she said softly, "But I want to…its just…I want to focus on the here and now. The past can come later," he said. Fatma smile and so did he.

Dante and Fatma savored the silence between them, "Right then. What do you think of that video game 'Prince of Persia'?" She eyed him weirdly, "Do you really want to start an argument? Because if you do, you're going to lose," she warned semi-seriously.

Dante raised his eyebrows intriguingly, "Don't worry, like you I despise the game," Fatma's expression softened, "However, if you do start an argument with me _you _will lose," she then gave a sly smile, "I would like to see that."

During their discussion ranging between topics on world literature and their musical ambitions spent moments flirting with one another to see who would stutter first. It was a game the two started two weeks ago; Dante lost the first time when she crossed her arms just underneath her breasts. It was unintentional, but he still stammered.

Now, using the simplest facial gestures to get a reaction and words to go with it, it seemed the two might have a tie, "I made you blush a few times Fatma, and I didn't even have to make innuendos," he said slyly. He rolled his shoulders around so she could see his muscles, "Likewise," she said coyly as she brushed her now untied hair around her ear.

He gulped a little bit. He may not be used to chatting with girls outside of former colleagues, but he knew how to flirt with smart girls, "So…how should we end this game today," he asked with a smirk and wiggling his eyebrows. She gave it some thought and looked at him, "Mmm, I don't know. Care to enlighten me on another stimulating topic, **Signore Tripodo**," she asked in a husky voice that got to him.

Dante's mouth went dry and gulped hard, "I-I…I mean," Fatma silently chuckled, proud with the result, "I won," she said simply as if she were confirming a simple scientific fact of nature.

Dante blinked and grinned, "I believe so," and winked and she just smirked, "Same time next week," she asked, "I can't wait," he replied.

Both logged out and he turned off his laptop. He leaned back into his chair and rested his hands behind his head, _'She's great! No, better than that! But it's sad that I have to talk to her like this. Video chatting is great, but it isn't enough,' _Fatma's voice echoed in his mind, _'She's right, it isn't enough, but can there be a way for us to meet…or are we stuck like this?'_

He then placed his hands to his side, dangling while twitching slightly, _'Dad, mom…you guys would be glad for me to finally be interested in someone. Even if she lives nearly six time zones away…Maybe someday we'll meet and really connect,' _his face formed a smile at the prospect.

**Saturday, Amity High auditorium, 7:47pm**

People gathered in the auditorium and searched for seats. After a couple of minutes until the seats were filled and the crowd settled down, the doors closed and the lights dimmed. The only lights to remain on were of course illuminating the stage where seven chairs stood and instead of a harpsichord, there was a box organ present on loan from one of the local churches. Moments later, the classical musicians came on stage first, the only time that's ever happened. As the musicians took their seats, Moradi held up a sign to reveal the piece they're performing, _**Sonata in B flat major by Andreas Kirchoff. **_

When the piece started, everyone in the audience knew this was far different from anything they've heard of Vivaldi or Telemann. This sounded like a sonata from visiting university students, but in fact it was the German's "alternative concerto model" according to the National Library of Uppsala. The solo violin played by Asuka provided the binding element to the piece's entirety, also known as the _trillo longo_. Which meant even when the piece heads for quick moments, the overall key is the same and doesn't head for a minor key for brief moments at a time.

Shinji along with the Turkish guardians sat in the front row listening and observing the group. Asuka played the solo while Gilberto sat as the second violinist for the second piece to be played, two juniors on two violas, Alberto played the theorbo, Wilfredo played the violoncello and finally Dante on the organ with Moradi directing the group. First came the slow bit which was refreshing for the audience which lasted roughly one and a half minutes and then came the fast bit, which was like the first movement but sped up. Asuka's talent on the violin was no shocker especially for quick allegros, but her growing talent for playing the slow almost melancholic largos and adagios was something to behold. Shinji watched as he noticed Asuka sometimes gives him soft expressions as she played and he smiled back. Their guardians took note and smiled inwardly, glad to see the improving moods for the former Children.

The third bit came and it was as somber as the first movement, and the audience began to feel an almost nostalgic and for many, a semi-Christian feel to the piece. As if this was meant for a Sunday morning services. But for the Children, the piece held a promise that things for them will get better, that things will change and their inner spiritual journey for a catharsis, whatever form that might take. When the last movement began playing, the three Children remembered the birthday party back in Misato's apartment and the time they spent together the day after, buying CDs and the other private moments they shared opening up to one another. Asuka expressed this in her playing and the audience felt it. When it ended, the audience clapped appreciatively. The musicians stood up and bowed in respect to the audience.

Then the musicians sat back down and prepared for the second piece.

**_Meanwhile, outside the auditorium_**

_As Danny heard the final notes of the group's first piece and the clapping audience, he was fighting a new ghost that had a smoky form accentuated by its tattered robe and white glowing eyes. Danny breathed heavily from the fighting and charged again._

After setting up the sheet music for their second piece for the night, the musicians made sure their instruments were still in tune. After doing so, Moradi raised his hands, signaling the teenagers to get ready. Their second piece was called _**Sonata Nr.11 g-moll/G minor for 2 violins, 2 violas, and violoncello and basso continuo by Pietro Andrea Ziani**_. The piece began…

_Danny launched blast after blast and not one of them struck the ghost, then the ghost fast approached with open hands and grabbed Danny's head. He screamed and then a bright light appeared. After the bright light dissipated he opened his eyes and to his horror, Vlad. _

"_How…what the fuck," he cursed silently and the faux-Vlad launched an energy blast that violently threw Danny to the roof of the auditorium._

The piece to the audience was overall more melancholic than their first piece that had a nostalgic quality to it. The slow pace of the piece after three minutes suggested there was no fast allegros, only what felt like a prolonged largo or even adagio. For Asuka and the players, they felt something of "spiritual ecstasy" when playing, like their first performed piece it felt like it was written for Sunday services. For the Catholics, it reminded them of Christ's Passion while for the university students, it was another reason to see Mohammad Moradi guiding another group of teenagers to a state of playing that for them felt transcendent. The piece ended and the audience clapped happily, amazed by the performance and the visiting university students clapped enthusiastically. The musicians bowed, gathered their instruments, backpacks, Dante and Wilfredo carefully pushed the box organ to the back of the stage and all of them walked off the stage.

_Danny exhausted collapsed on the grass of the football field. He looked up at the faux-Vlad as it disappeared. Danny too weak to fight transformed back to normal and passed out. The ghost, satisfied with its work hovered away until it noticed the musicians that performed earlier leaving for home. The people it focused on were the former Children, Wilfredo, and strangely Professor Moradi._

"_Hmm, I wonder what would happen when I use my abilities on them? Their energies are full of tragedy. That's why Danny survived, all he had oppressing him was Vladimir. But those five…wow," he muttered sinisterly until he noticed black butterflies hovering around him. He sensed another presence and looked below, he noticed a boy with penetrating eyes. The two stared and amidst the cloud of butterflies, the boy disappeared from the ghost's sight, "Interesting…very interesting," he said quietly, planning something for his next visit._

**The pieces discussed here are from three different albums. The two pieces near the end were done by the same ensemble, Musica Antigua Koln. The piece by Kirchoff is from their album MUSICA BALTICA. The second piece by Ziani is from their album SONATEN AUS DRESDEN. The piece in the beginning was from the album Concerti por molti strumenti, performed by Europa Galante.**

**Read, review, critique, and...I have to confess, although this chapter took a week to write it was hell. Why? Because of the semi-romantic element in this chapter. Perhaps in the future I would be better at depicting it, but for now bear with it. Later people.**


	6. April 2005 conflict part one

**LES MUSICIENS**

**2005**

**A Crossover Story**

**Unlike previous chapters where a piece of music starts the writing process, this chapter was inspired by one particular scene in the film BIUTIFUL. The scene is where the police chase illegal African immigrants in Barcelona, Spain and arrest the main character Uxbal (portrayed by actor Javier Bardem).**

**I would like to apologize to the people reading this who might have had parents leaving a war torn country for the US or for other Western nations, in particular to those of Middle Eastern descent. But for this chapter, it revolves around the group's conductor Mohammad Moradi and his past prior to arriving in the US. However, this chapter also portrays the event that got Wilfredo to move to Philadelphia in the first place. Beyond this, more of it will be expressed in the chapter following this.**

**There are moments where music must give way to silence and screams.**

**Chapter Five**

**CONFLICT PART 1**

**April 2005, week four, Wednesday 4:45pm**

Danny launched a series of punches on a punching bag in his parents' lab. They agreed since they already knew about his abilities and ever since the Antarctic incident, his abilities have grown exponentially. But the defeat he suffered nearly a month ago, handed to him by an unknown new foe got his still plagued his mind. After a few minutes of punching and kicking the bag, he stopped and gathered himself. He glanced at his own reflection and noticed a young guy, semi-proud of his athletic physique and obsessed by one ideal, progression.

After he rested a bit he transformed, he began experimenting new techniques and improving the abilities he already had and developed over the year since acquiring his powers. But there was on pressing issue he and his friends had to address, the former Children and their growing abilities as well as the growing issue involving Wilfredo and the boy. And with the school year coming to a close, Danny knew time was limited to try to convince the three foreigners to somehow aid him in ghost fighting when the moment needed it. But with their obvious trauma from the Antarctic and their mysterious pasts now in full light to him and his friends, it may not be possible.

After nearly 25 minutes of training and experimenting, he transformed back to normal and rested, lying down on the cold tiled floor. He looked up and stared at the fluorescent lights above, focusing on the halo that surrounded the bulbs.

"So this is what Wil meant on a person's aura. The halo of light surrounding him or her," he continued to stare around the room and noticed the same thing, "But does anxiety have to come with it? Or is it just because he put that thought in my head," he pondered, "This sucks," he sat back up and stood up, "Sucks because this doesn't give any answers," he said out loud.

He picked up his towel to wipe off the sweat and headed back upstairs. He rolled his shoulders to relieve any tension and went up to his room. As he made his up the stairs and opened the door, he noticed the boy sitting on his bed. He looked up with his hands together and hunched over; the posture made Danny let down his guard for a bit.

"What are you doing here," Danny asked, more curious than accusatory. The boy continued to look at him, "Why don't you sit down," he said quietly. Danny was somewhat surprised by his tone of voice, more humble than the aggressive and mysterious quality he has grown used to. Danny pulled up a chair and sat facing the boy.

The two sat silently for a few moments until the boy decided to break it, "The ghost you encountered last month, he's a force to be reckoned with. His name his Anamnesis. His name basically means memory and recollection, and judging by your behavior over the past month you fought him haven't you," he asked and Danny nodded a yes, his face now looked serious, "What about him," he asked the obvious question.

The boy sighed, "He's going to target five people over the next week," Danny was stunned by this new development, "What! How? And who are the targets?"

"You know who are the targets," the boy simply stated. Danny thought for a moment and until he came upon the realization on the four possible targets, "No way. No fucking way," he said under a hushed tone but full with worry and frustration, "Way," the boy replied.

"But how the hell is it going to do it? Those guys aren't exactly pushovers. And what about the fifth target," he asked worriedly. The boy's next words weren't exactly what Danny wanted to hear or to expect, "I don't know. Wilfredo, Shinji, Asuka, and Dante are the four names that came up to mind and I watched him as he observed those four. As for the fifth…I'm guessing he's going to target him very soon and when he does, it's going to be intense."

Danny just sat there too stunned to think clearly, "W-What should I tell my friends," he asked, "Exactly what I told you and do not mention this to the targeted four. They won't believe you anyway," the boy said and Danny agreed with the possible consequences. The boy got up and walked for the door, "Wait," Danny grabbed his wrist, "How do you…How do you do this," he asked. The boy smiled, "Years of experience," he stated, loosened himself from Danny's grip and walked out the door, leaving Danny alone in his room in sweat drenched clothes and information that's potentially fatal. He sat still for a while until he gathered some clothes and headed for the shower, with the boy's declaration still swirling around in his head.

**April 2005, week four, Thursday 4:35pm**

The musicians stopped their rehearsal for their ten-minute break while Moradi has to take care of something. When he headed out of the classroom, he glanced behind him and thought he saw a figure. But when he didn't see anything he immediately reasoned it was the trick of the lights above. However, with the incidents involving the "ghost boy" and his fights with other ghosts, the thought kept creeping up from the depths of his mind.

**Meanwhile**

Wil and his friends talked with Shinji and his friends. Over the course of the month, Gilberto got over his crush on Asuka and she was actually civil to him, which surprised the hell out of her male comrades. There were moments when Shinji would put his arm around her waist or her shoulders and she would lean onto him.

"Jesus…would you guys do this after rehearsal," Dante said, and Asuka would look at him, "You wish you could do this with Fatma. Right," she playfully taunted and he would blush.

"Oh shut it!" He said and marched back to his harpsichord and looked at the sheet music to see if there were parts of the score he messed up on…with Fatma coming to mind frequently.

Shinji smiled and sighed, "**アスカは、あなたが本当に彼の片思いについてのダンテをいじめること****があるのですか？** (Asuka do you really have to tease Dante about his crush)," he asked, "**Natürlich** (Of course)," she said and played with his hair, "**Es ist das erste Mal, dass ich ihn gesehen mit einem Mädchen verliebt habe****.** (It's the first time I've ever seen him infatuated with a girl)," she added and dropped her hand and arm around Shinji. He blushed slightly but he did savor having Asuka close to him.

Shinji over the course of the month has gotten a lot closer to Asuka and the two have almost worked through the shit that has gotten them nearly estranged from their days in Tokyo-03. However, their pasts involving their mothers and what their fathers have done in league with NERV or not will take some time to work out. Their dates were mainly a way to sort it out, but along the way they discovered they might have mutual feelings for one another. They even kissed a few times, nothing too extreme, but chaste enough to signal their need to move on for something worthwhile.

Wil and his friends noticed how Shinji and Asuka looked so at peace and just smiled to themselves and looked at each other, signaling the same thoughts going through their heads. Also how Dante was working through his moments of hypomania and mild depression and his crush on Fatma, their new international member to the group. Zane has mentioned to his friends about new features he's planning for the site, but nothing on the details.

"_**它的****一个惊喜。** (It's a surprise)_," he always would say, even with today's threats his three friends made. Gilberto would playfully threaten back with his skill in Filipino Kali, and Wil would threaten back with his own skills with the martial art. Alberto would also mention his skills in boxing. Zane would just laugh at them and say they've become the new "rat pack" for classical music. The three would stare at him and laughed as well.

"I think its because we're good looking good rather than our music," Alberto said, "**Pero eso no es realmente una mala cosa****, ¿verdad?** (But that's not really a bad thing, is it)," Gilberto asked with a mischievous smirk. The boys thought it over and came to the same conclusion, "Not it isn't," Wilfredo said and laughed their asses off.

Shinji and Asuka looked at the four American boys, "**私は彼らが笑っているもの****だろうか？** (I wonder what they're laughing at)," he asked and Asuka clutched Shinji's arm, "**Es ist mir egal. Brillante Köpfe und Persönlichkeiten immer gleich ****Idiot.** (I don't care. Brilliant minds and personalities would always equal idiot)," she glanced at Dante who still studied the sheet music and now seemingly calm, "**Wie sieht es mit Dante und ich****?** (What about Dante and I)," he asked in a low husky tone.

She looked at him and smirked, "**Dante ist die Ausnahme ... und ****für Sie** (Dante's the exception…and as for you)," she gave him a sweet, light, but suggestive kiss on Shinji's lips, "**私はまだ決定しています****。** (I'm still deciding)," she whispered and Shinji smiled and kissed her on the lips as well with equal affection.

**Meanwhile**

Moradi was heading back to class to show the teenage musicians new music to consider and try out. As he made his way up the stairs, he stopped midway between the second and third floor, encountering the boy.

"May I help you," Moradi asked, "Yes, I was wondering where I could find Wilfredo Silva," he asked innocently as he could. Moradi looked at him and smiled, "He's in my music class with other students rehearsing. Are you family of his," he asked.

They boy nodded, "Yeah," he compulsively lied, "Well, would you mind coming up to talk to him," Moradi offered, "No thank you. But can you tell him that I'll be waiting for him outside?"

Moradi nodded, "Of course, but what is your name exactly," he asked but the boy instead answered with, "Just tell him his cousin from Portugal is visiting. His mom and dad told him already."

"All right no problem," both looked at each other and went their ways. The boy at the second level looked up at Moradi who arrived at the third floor, _'Sorry Mohammad Moradi, just need to confirm if you're the fifth target. And now that I know you are, I'll do what I can to lessen the harm that's coming your way,' _he thought and continued his way downstairs.

When Moradi arrived he called Wil to his desk and told him his Portuguese cousin arrived and waiting for him outside. Wil immediately knew is was the unknown boy with the dark past, but played along and said he'll go down when they're done with rehearsal. Moradi nodded his head and Wil returned to his seat. They continued with rehearsal and at the end, Moradi said they would perform a piece for the graduating class of 2005. The seniors in the group got emotional, thinking it was their final performance under Moradi's direction. But knowing his charismatic conducting and demands for quality performances, they all knew they would still be part of his orchestra for some years to come.

**5:13pm**

The musicians headed out of the school and Wil encountered the boy, but the two gave glances, knowing they would talk later. The boy followed close by, and only to his knowledge, he looked up and noticed the ghost who defeated Danny from the previous month. The ghost looked down at the boy and growled menacingly, _'After I have some fun with my five targets, I'm going to have special fun with that boy. How dare he look at me as if I'm a common housefly! I'll make him know humility.'_

The ghost flew for parts unknown and the boy continued to follow Wil to the bus stop, unnoticed by his friends or the three foreigners. Unknown to any of the musicians, Danny, Sam and Tucker watched everything that occurred and not occurred.

"Are we going to tell them," Tucker asked, "I'm not sure," Danny said quietly as he watched Wil saying goodbye to his friends and Shinji walking with his friends back to Sam's house, "But I know that if we don't tell them there is going to be some shit hitting the fan real soon," he added and both Tucker and Sam noticed how he's behaving differently over the past month. He's been more intense in his ghost fighting and practicing new techniques without their knowledge. After pretending nothing's going on, the two decided to address it.

Tucker placed his hand on Danny's left shoulder, "Dude what's going on," he asked and Danny just looked at him confused, "What do you mean?"

"You've been acting weird lately and…we're worried about you," Sam said and she looked into Danny's gaze. He knew what they were talking about and whenever they brought it up, a ghost would appear or would try to distract them; either with just hanging out or making out with Sam (the latter he liked the most). But he also knew he couldn't avoid it for long so he finally relented.

"Last month when those guys performed their two slow classical pieces…I-I got my ass kicked bad," he admitted and his friends just looked at him, "WHAT?"

"And that wasn't the worst part. After beating my ass, he just left me on the football field like I was a waste of his time. That sucked and I overheard his plans." His hands clenched tightly and his arms shook, _'Even Vlad had time to taunt me whenever he beat me, but this bastard of a ghost? Fuck! It was like I was less than dirt to him!' _

Sam noticed Danny shaking with rage and attempted to calm him down by hugging him and rubbing his back. He stopped shaking and relaxed in her hold, "It's okay Danny. Just…just tell us what he's planning." Danny took a moment to collect his thoughts, "Okay, here it is."

He told them what the boy had revealed to him and to say the two were shocked would be an understatement. If the ghost managed to use its powers on the Children or even on Wil, the memories that will come up would destroy them, "But you said he was going to attack five people. Who's the fifth target," Tucker asked.

Danny shook his head, still had a pissed off look on his face, "I don't know," but then he noticed the group's professor and conductor Moradi heading for his car in the teacher's parking lot, "But I think…I know who it might be," he said which prompted Tucker and Sam to ask the next obvious question, "Who?"

"I'm not entirely sure, so I don't want to say it. But we'll see tomorrow, that way we can ask Wil to help us," Danny said, "Do you think he'll agree to help us out? He's not exactly a fan of what we do," Sam pointed out. Danny looked at her with a confused and frustrated expression, "I know…but with himself and the three former "Children" targeted, he may have no choice," he said.

"Tomorrow's going to be hell, right," Tucker semi-asked, "Oh yeah," Danny said in a defeated manner. He felt completely powerless of what's to come, _'But I'll beat that ghost. No matter what!'_

Moradi drove away and headed for home which was on a hill that overlooked the district and from where he could glimpse the greater city of Philadelphia on clear days, especially after a rainstorm. When he was finally home his wife who was a professor of Arab Studies at the university greeted him. Yasmin, his twenty five year old daughter who's an intern at the National History Museum was also there and the three sat to eat dinner. After dinner Yasmin headed out for the night and the two parents stayed indoors to watch some TV or to talk about their day. When they turned in for bed around 10:34pm, he took one last look at a picture of himself with friends in Beirut, Lebanon back in the early 1980's before fleeing for Paris. Then the dark night enveloped he and his now sleeping wife and let sleep take hold.

The boy sat on the floor of their bedroom and observed the two sleeping, letting the butterflies fly about landing on the sleeping couple and remained there until their daughter came home from a night of drinking and hanging out with her friends. He quietly observed her as she walked to her room and collapsed on her bed. He also took in one last look at the sleeping couple and made his way downstairs.

Once outside he looked up at the full moon and how the light illuminated the butterflies flying around him. The cloudless night revealed the few stars visible and made his way down the hill and walked back to the Amity district…waiting for the next day to unveil itself.

**Friday, 12:35pm, Amity High, third floor music room**

The bell rang, signaling the end of fourth period and Moradi's music class exited with their belongings. Fourth period was different from usual, with Moradi demonstrating the use of period instruments more to his regular students. With this, he had some of his musicians from the orchestra to show the students. Including Zane and his friends, who had taken some time off from their regular classes to join his demonstration as well as Shinji and his two compatriots to join the others to make up 16 musicians playing a piece by Antonio Vivaldi (_**Concerto in D major RV 121**_) for the demonstration. They also performed solo pieces to show off the range of their individual talents. The class was astonished and most of the students asked about the unique traits the baroque musical instruments possessed and the musicians gladly answered questions.

Zane and his friends headed for the cafeteria and after some consideration, Shinji and his two compatriots decided to join them for not only lunch but also to do a video about their time together. Shinji, Asuka, and Dante have started doing videos since early March and showed…some of their videos to their new friends. This had Zane to come up with a project involving separate video journal entries from his friends. So for lunch, it would be their first group video journal entry about their views on the school and show how cliques in one cafeteria divided the school.

Meanwhile, Moradi was left in the music room eating lunch his wife prepared and listening to an album called "Eclipse" with music performed by Hamza El Din. With his language aside and country of origin, he was respected and adored by most of the faculty. As he ate his lunch, listened to his CD, and reading up on the early music revival in America, he wrote notes to himself on what to do for the Class of 2005 graduation and what piece to perform for the occasion. He was stuck between Rameau and Vivaldi.

"**Je ne pense pas que ces enfants sont tout à fait prêt pour Rameau. Bien que cette pièce de Vivaldi n'est pas facile à réaliser soit****.** (I don't think these kids are quite ready for Rameau. Although this piece by Vivaldi isn't easy to perform either)," he said quietly to himself and took a sip of tea. He sat for a moment to think clearly, until he made up his decision. He circled the piece best suited for the graduating class, "**Ce serait une bonne décision ... ****je l'espère.** (This would be a good decision…I hope)," he chuckled a bit, continued to eat his lunch, and letting the first track take his mind off of the remainder of the day and think about his wife and daughter. He then felt his head growing heavy and began to recall his life before fleeing from his home. He felt himself leaning to the side and collapsed to the floor and blacking out...

**Cafeteria, 12:45pm**

Wilfredo was talking to Asuka about the obvious musical stylistic difference between Johann Sebastian and Georg Philipp Telemann when Danny tapped his shoulder, "Hey Danny. What's up," he asked without a hint of the usual annoyance. Heroism wasn't in his agenda, but lately Danny's been pushing him to join his friends for over a month. He never understood why the sudden change, but he didn't like it.

"Nothing, but uh…can I talk to you? It's kind of private," Danny asked, hoping Wil understood. Wil looked at Danny and nodded, "All right. Be right back guys," he got up and walked with Danny to the hallway outside the cafeteria doors. They continued to walk until they reached the nearest restroom. Making sure no one was in there, both entered and Danny locked the door behind him.

"Okay what's up," Wilfredo asked, "There's something I have to tell you and it's really, really important," Danny said sounding serious and desperate. Wilfredo looked at him for a moment, "All right, but this better be good," Danny proceeded to tell him exactly what he told Sam and Tucker. Wil just looked at him strangely.

"What the fuck," Wil managed to say, "I'm dead serious and if anything happens today, make sure you…" but before Danny could continue, Wil interrupted him, "Nothing is going to happen," he said in a stoic manner.

"How do you know? Listen I got beat, bad! I'm not bullshitting here and I'm not making things hard on you or your friends," Danny semi-yelled, "And what about Shinji? Or Asuka? Or Dante? Because as far as their abilities go, they can handle themselves. Christ we ain't weak you fucker!"

Danny rubbed his hair in frustration, "Jesus! You're fucking hard to deal with sometimes," he said hoarsely, "Likewise," Wil said with an equally hoarse tone. Danny walked up to him, grabbed his shirt's collar and was about to hit him in the face until…

BUZZ! BUZZ! BUZZ! BUZZ! BUZZ! BUZZ! BUZZ! BUZZ!

The two boys looked up and headed out the door. Immediately noticed students heading down the hall for their designated homeroom spots on the P.E. field. Danny and Wilfredo noticed their friends coming from their right and joined them.

"What's going on," Danny asked, "Got me. One minute all of us were talking for a bit and then bam! Fire alarm," Tucker answered. Danny looked around, expecting his ghost sense to go off, but the lack of it unnerved him even more.

"Does this happen a lot in American schools," Asuka asked Gilberto, "Normally the school just tests them out in case of a fire. But we just had a drill last week," he explained. They continued to walk and once outside, they all headed for their designated spots.

Shinji, Asuka, and Dante decided to head for Professor Moradi's homeroom, but only his T.A. was present. The three got texts from their musician friends asking where was Moradi. They didn't know and just as they responded, all of the students and teachers heard sounds they wished they never would hear…automatic weapons fire coming from the school's main building.

All of the teenagers and faculty started screaming, but there were some teachers who tried to instill a sense of calm. The former Children could feel something was wrong and in the middle of the chaos, discreetly headed for the main building. Wilfredo and his friends noticed and followed them, even when their teachers yelled at them to come back and stay put. The same went for Danny and his friends and pretty soon, the former Children, the musicians and the day-to-day ghost fighters headed for the crossfire.

**Meanwhile, third floor music room**

Mohammad Moradi lied on the floor of his classroom unconscious. The ghost 'Anamnesis' looked down at him and watched as memories of Israeli and Lebanese soldiers marched out of the classroom and headed down the halls. The ghost chuckled a bit and noticed the boy he encountered from time to time over the past month.

"What are you doing here? Came to marvel on what I'm doing," the ghost asked arrogantly, "Not really, I came to see your gruesome demise in the hands of those kids," the boy said.

"Kids? Aren't you one," the ghost asked, "I died in 1938 in the hands of a man who may or may not have had clear motives," the boy explained himself, "So what are you exactly? You have the qualities of a ghost, but you look and feel more like the memories that crawled out of this man's head under my direction," the ghost said.

The boy looked down on Moradi and then back at Anamnesis, "You know, you're right. I'm not a ghost, I'm a memory…and none of the kids here know that. Wilfredo on the other hand might know, but he's not saying anything."

"Why not," the ghost asked, "Because he's happy with knowing without actually having to hear it or point it out," the boy explained himself, "Also, with what you're doing right now, you've just set the stage for your destruction. And the ones to put you down, perhaps permanently, are the ones coming inside from the football field," the boy continued.

The ghost looked at him with an arrogant smile, "Please. What can teenagers do against I'm doing here," he asked and the boy gave a smile of his own, "Well, four of them are the very ones you're trying to target. The four you planned to target over the course of next week. You have to deal with them in the next 30 minutes," he walked up to the ghost and patted his shoulder, "Good luck with that," and exited the classroom. One of his butterflies landed on Moradi's hairline. Anamnesis couldn't get rid of it.

The ghost looked behind him and then back at the professor, "So…if those four kids are coming, then I might as well see what they are capable of. Traumatized children with abilities beyond their years...letting their emotions tainted with death control their fates," he kicked the professor's side and the professor groaned with a pained expression on his face from both the kick and mental trauma, "I may win...or I may not."

**First floor**

The teenagers ran down the hall and as they were about to head up the stairwell, they heard gunshots and immediately headed in one of the empty classrooms. They closed the door and reinforced it with a bookcase. Danny transformed and the others prepared themselves for whatever might come. The glass shattered, the uniformed men came in and pointed their rifles at the students.

Asuka and Dante immediately disarmed the first two and incapacitated them with their Special-Ops training from their days at NERV; a mixture of Kali and Krav Maga. Wilfredo followed through with his own skills in Filipino Kali, knocking two out with severe blows to the head. Danny was next by firing energy blasts at the men and phased through one of the men to fire at another to inflict injury. Danny phased out and fired two shots of energy to their heads. The rest went around the room to find anything to use to fight their way upstairs. They gathered pens, textbooks, and even a pair of scissors. Asuka and Dante however took off the 45mm handguns off of their holsters and checked the magazines; once satisfied they cocked the guns, armed and ready.

They got out of the classroom and heard noises coming from the cafeteria, "Okay, you guys head upstairs. I'll stay down here and keep them busy," Danny ordered. Normally Sam would object, but today's circumstances aren't normal so she followed through, "All right, but radio us for anything! Got it," Sam said and Danny nodded. The others nodded at each other and ran upstairs, followed by Tucker and Sam.

Four more soldiers appeared and charged for Danny. He let his hands vibrate and illuminate with energy and was in battle ready position, "Come one…try to get to my friends," he said under his breath and as the first two soldiers charged at him, he charged at them and fired one huge blast of ectoplasmic energy.

**Meanwhile**

The others ran up the stairs and when they reached the second floor, more soldiers began firing. They sprinted for the third floor and the soldiers followed them up, but Wilfredo sent them flying by firing his own energy blasts. On the third floor as soldiers began firing, the former Children sent them back with their AT-Fields. Wilfredo went down the hall towards the music room while the others fought off the soldiers with whatever they had on hand. Whenever, the two Europeans fired the handguns, he ducked and flinched. Once in front of the classroom he couldn't open the door and had to barge himself in.

Moradi lied on the floor and the ghost Anamnesis floated over him and stared directly at Wilfredo. The ghost smiled wickedly and fired a shot at Wilfredo, but he dodged and lunged for the ghost. But the ghost levitated above him and grabbed Wil's head. He grabbed the ghost's wrists and threw it to the ground, but when he turned around he was met with someone he never thought he would see again…the very boy who locked him up in juvie for over a week. He had messy long black hair and wore punk looking clothing. He began to recall what happened in 2003 just prior to the end of the school year, trying to help the kid out along with his friends for months and once he saw what he did, he was framed.

"Jesus," Wil swore and the boy lunged for him, but Wil grabbed him by the hair and threw him to the floor. The boy passed out and vanished, Wil then fired a shot at the ghost. It tried to block but was thrown back towards the hallway. Wil ran to the hallway, but was suddenly pinned to the wall by the ghost. The ghost grabbed him by the throat and slowly started to choke him, "You kids are persistent. Taking on dangerous soldiers from a man's past he desperately tried to hide away with his musical profession…but I do want to know why that child attacked you? What was he to you? A friend? An enemy? Or perhaps an unfortunate statistic you tried to help but ended up failing?"

Wil wanted to kill the damn ghost, but with his body slowly losing its oxygen, he couldn't think but survival. He fired a shot at the ghost and stumbled to the floor, coughing to catch his breath. The ghost got up lunged towards Wilfredo, but he got out of the way and kicked the ghost straight in the face. Both were at eye level and the ghost tried to punch Wil's face, but he caught the fist and dragged him forward and side stepped; he hit the ghost with his right elbow. The ghost stumbled backward then attempted to fire a shot, but he blocked it with an energy shield.

"I thought you were going to kill us! So why do I feel major melancholy from your sorry ass," Wilfredo exclaimed and the ghost lunged forward, not both on the ground grabbing each other's head.

At the other side of the hall, the others dealt with the soldiers with the near level of survival instinct. Sam and Tucker after months of fighting ghosts with Danny held their own quite well, but for the disarming bit the former Children assisted them. Gilberto used his skills in Kali as well, using two pens to pierce the soldiers' arms to disarm them. The give well placed elbow and open palm punches to the heads. Alberto used his own boxing skills to fight the already disarmed soldiers thanks to Shinji, Asuka and Dante. Zane however used his more awkward technique to stab the soldiers and dodge any punch. But there were moments where his tai chi kicked in when the soldiers were worn down by his more aggressive colleagues/friends. When the soldiers were dealt with they noticed the ghost on top of Wilfredo and both of them grabbed each other by the head and attempted to instill mental trauma.

"Jesus! Come on guys," Zane exclaimed and all of them rushed to their friend's aid.

Danny looked around, pretty satisfied with putting down 23 soldiers. Exhausted but regained his focus and flew up towards the third floor. Once up there he noticed the others running down the hall. He looked at the floor and saw how the others fought. He knew Sam and Tucker wouldn't go far in harming others, only to disarm and knocking them out, but he didn't think the musicians or the former EVA pilots would go this far. The soldiers had piercings all over their chests, arms, and for three of them on their necks. Blood sprayed the floor.

'_They're not real. They're memories like that kid. So why does the blood look so real? Who was the fifth target Anamnesis threatened to attack?'_

The sudden shouting and yelling at the other end of the hall interrupted his thoughts.

The ghost and Wil rolled around on the floor, attempting to damage each other's psyche. The ghost nearly attacked the musicians to force their traumatic memories to come to life. Then in one moment Wil pinned the ghost to the floor, and the ghost, surprised by not being able to phase through the floor and disappear noticed Wil lifting one hand above and pointed it down directly above the ghost's head. He forced it down sharply and when he made contact with Anamnesis's head, the ghost yelled harshly.

Wilfredo saw glimpses of the ghost's existence and before he knew it, he noticed pulses emanating from the ghost's head. Anamnesis soon gasped for air and clenched Wil's shirt to regain control of the memory-induced images throughout the building. Then the ghost relented and a pulse of energy threw them back and when they turned around, the men disappeared, signaling that they won. Anamnesis groaned and Sam took the thermos out of her backpack and sucked the ghost up.

They looked at each other, exhausted by their efforts and shocked by what some of them did to survive. Then a groan escaped the classroom and four of them went to check to see if Moradi was all right, while the former Children and the three ghost fighting regulars looked at each other with nothing to say.

While taking and helping Professor Moradi out of the classroom, the kids noticed police officers coming up the third floor and they immediately escorted them outside. After twenty five minutes of waiting outside with the other students, not knowing what actually happened with the gun shots and why some students went inside the main building when the gunshots were fired, the police gave the okay to return inside. With the time lost the faculty decided to cut sixth period and extending lunch period. Most of the students rejoiced with the news, but most of them still couldn't shake what happened earlier and because of their uncertainty, the rumor mill went into action.

Moradi decided to postpone their evening concert for next week and would have their rehearsals over the weekend at the nearby community center. As the former Children headed home, Wil's friends decided to head home as well. He went home alone today and recalled his conversation with the boy yesterday.

_[Flashback-Yesterday, 5:16pm]_

_After heading home, he and the boy sat on the bus bench, "What do you want to talk about? It must be pretty damn important since you lied to my music professor," Wilfredo addressed the strangeness of this particular conversation between them. The boy said nothing for a few moments as he looked out to the street with the cars passing by and noticed the sky getting darker with the setting of the sun._

_"I want to know where he originally came from. Do you know," the boy asked and Wilfredo albeit confused responded, "Beirut, Lebanon. But why is that any of your business?"_

_The boy played the ignorance card, but with the certain circumstances at play with Anamnesis he had no choice, "Just curious," Wilfredo played along, but he knew the boy was lying. He didn't know why he would, there was something else as play, "Is there something you're not telling me?"_

_The boy looked at him, "There is, but I can't give specific details," "Why not," Wil asked, "**Porque ****há**_ _**algo que eu tenho de perceber antes de te poder contar tudo** (Because there's something I have to figure out before telling you anything)," the boy explained, "**Está relacionado com a forma como morreste** (Does it relate to how you died)," Wil asked. The boy looked at him and his eyes then focused on his feet, "**Espero que sim...Quero ultrapassar o que me aconteceu** (Hopefully...I want to move on from what happened)," Wil remained silent so the boy could continue, "**Ultimamente tenho sangrando mais e...e o homem que viste no ginásio da escola, ele está mais visível** (The bleeding nowadays is getting worse and...and that man who you saw in the school's weight room, he's more visible now)."_

_Then Wilfredo got up, "Things are going to get worse right," he asked and the boy nodded a yes, "**Matém-me a par da situação e de tudo o que possa a vir a acontecer, está bem?** (Just keep me posted on your situation and what might occur later. Okay?)," Wilfredo said and the boy gave a light smile, grateful to have at least one friend who understood. He got up as well and stretched his arms, "I'll see you around," he then walked away. Wilfredo watched him leave for a bit and then turned around to head for his apartment. The sounds of the increasing traffic somehow soothed his thoughts._

The boy watched Wilfredo getting off the bus and heading for his apartment. He crossed the street quickly to avoid the cars and went inside. He headed up in the elevator and noticed Wil's older sister with her daughter heading out. Hearing her talking to Wilfredo in Portuguese about heading for the market and the bank. The door closed and they headed down in another elevator down the hall. As soon as Wil's sister was out of sight, he walked up to the door and was about to knock, but at the last second decided to step back and head back downstairs.

**Meanwhile, Sam's house**

Asuka opened the door and headed inside followed by Shinji and Dante. The three were frustrated and getting increasingly annoyed with Danny when he wanted to talk about what they did to the soldiers. Sam and Tucker stayed silent, they were there as well and on some level they understood their actions better than Danny's who was not himself for over a month due to Anamnesis.

"Would you just drop it Danny! We did what we had to do," Asuka loudly said as the three headed upstairs, but Danny ran passed them and stood in front of them, "No we won't until you guys explain why you killed those soldiers," Danny said and the Children looked behind them, seeing Sam and Tucker blocking their way out.

"Jesus! Is it that much of a problem to have killed those fuckers? Would you rather have us killed," Dante yelled. Shinji cringed a bit and Asuka joined the Italian, "We would rather get out of there with our limbs intact than play hero and getting seriously injured or worse. In addition to that, our friends had done the same shit as us. So talk to them about this as well."

Danny rubbed the temples of her forehead, "That's not the point. The point we're trying to make is that you shouldn't have been so violent with your abilities. I took out the soldiers without having to kill them. We know you guys came from a reality that was far different from our own, but that doesn't give you the right to do what you want."

The Children stared at him and Shinji joined in, "We killed those fucking soldiers so we could get out of there. Don't forget Sam and Tucker were with us as well," Danny looked at his friends, "Dude, we were there and putting what they did aside...it was okay that they killed those soldiers," Danny didn't believe what Tucker just said, "What?"

Sam breathed to calm herself down, "Danny, remember, you sent us with these guys and Wil and his friends upstairs to get to Professor Moradi. And we knew how these guys were trained," Sam looked at the former Children and continued, "You can't expect them to be like us. The same goes for Wil. Danny, let this go for today. All of us are still shocked by what happened today at lunch and..." but she was interrupted by Danny, "But we fight ghosts all the time!"

Sam was getting pissed, but kept herself in check, "Its not the same people that looked alive running you down trying to kill you!" Danny looked at her and felt the guilt of letting his paranoia and uncertainty get the better of him, "You're right...sorry you guys." The former Children walked passed him and headed for their rooms. Their doors slammed hard, startling Danny a bit and felt his frustration grow, despite having his friends rubbing his shoulders to calm him down.

**Around Wilfredo's neighborhood**

As the boy walked around to keep his mind off of what happened he noticed something was off. The air felt it crackled with electricity and he sped up his pace. As his feet pounded on the pavement he noticed something above him and continued to run until he felt himself on the ground with pressure concentrated on his lower back. It felt like a military-styled boot was grinding itself into his body. He then felt something metallic pressing into the back of his head...it felt like the barrel of a rifle. The weapon cocked and an empty shell fell right next his face.

"**Prepárate a morir, comunista**," the mysterious man said menancingly. The boy shook with fear, **"Ya me mató idiota,"** the man pulled the trigger and as soon as the shot was fired, he blinked he saw nothing but black butterflies flying around him and heading for the sky and disappearing behind the apartment buildings.

The butterflies gathered around on an apartment's rooftop and they all clumped together and the boy regained his body. The boy stumbled to the rooftop door to head downstairs. He went to the nearest elevator and pushed the button. He looked down the hallway, fearing the man would appear again to kill him. He then felt his wounded area bleeding again, this time he felt dizzy and on the verge of unconsciousness. When the elevator doors opened he got inside and pressed for the ground level. The elevator activated and headed down. He quickly got out a gauze and attempted to stop the bleeding. His strength was leaving him fast and couldn't keep his eyes open. Then himself fall to the floor, the black void within took him to his memories.

When the door opened, the butterflies flew out for the open door and headed for somewhere to regain his strength. Unknown to him the man watched the scene unfold from above. He smiled to himself, not knowing why, adjusted the strap of his rifle on his shoulder and disappeared.

**This chapter was fun to write, although it took longer to post due to starting the winter quarter. However the next chapter will come a lot sooner, probably in the next week or so. So until then read, review and critique.**

**Once again I thank HolyDragoon for the Portuguese bit between Wilfredo and the boy. The classical piece briefly mentioned is from the album Concerto per archi, performed by Concerto Italiano conducted by Rinaldo Alessandrini.**


	7. May 2005 conflict part two

**LES MUSICIENS**

**2005**

**A Crossover Story**

**This chapter is partially inspired by a track from the soundtrack to BIUTIFUL called "Gedeik". ****But the majority of the chapter is similar to the previous one I posted. Silence and yelling dominate the landscape here.**

**Unlike the last one, where the conflict was external, the conflict here is internal and it's externalized. The "boy's" past and his connection to Wilfredo and the man with the rifle will come out.**

**Chapter Six**

**CONFLICT PART TWO**

_[Somewhere in the past, hidden between light and sounds]_

_Floating about in the ether, spatial dimensions twist and turn as the light brightens and darkens with the sounds of the winds that caress the planet. The pain left behind on his side is dulled and all he could notice was the man with the rifle floating beneath him and above him. Then the winds warmed up and he found himself on a rooftop in a city he hardly knew. He noticed a ghost talking to a boy with abilities that felt similar to his own. He stood up and tried to catch the wind as the ghost flew away for parts unknown to him._

_Once he had his fill with the wind, he let himself fall. He noticed the boy's own butterflies flying around his room's window. He then noticed his own butterflies around himself, the same black hue as the boy's above. _

"_1938," he quietly said to himself in Catalan. He then felt the pain on his side coming back, he remembered how he died, but decided to not focus on it and returned his gaze to the boy's apartment above. _

_He felt the air crackle with electricity and walked briskly away, away from him. As he passed by one of the store's windows, he noticed his own reflection, "__**No han envellit després de tots aquests anys.**__ (I haven't aged after all these years)," he muttered sadly and continued to walk. In this new city, he would help the medium out the best he could, through dialogue and moments of silence._

"_**No han envellit, però em sento tan vell. Per què? No em mereixo aquest càstig per a les accions de la meva família? O hi ha alguna cosa que he de complir amb el que pot passar? I pot ser que el noi que m'ajudi?**__ (I haven't aged but I feel so old. Why? Do I deserve this punishment for my family's actions? Or is there something I have to accomplish so I can move on? And can that boy help me)," the boy asked himself and picked up a discarded newspaper._

**April 2005, week four, Saturday, Amity High**

Moradi conducted the orchestra on their piece for tomorrow's performance after yesterday's traumatic incident. The piece they've chosen was **Concerto Grosso in B-flat major, Op.3 N.2 **by **Georg Friedrich H****ä****ndel**. Their first piece by Händel, he decided to try some pieces before their big performance for the graduating class of 2005.

After the previous day's events, the teens that were involved in getting Moradi out of the third floor and fighting those soldiers still felt the unease of playing music. Wilfredo had nightmares of the boy dying on a grassy plain and a man who shot him, only to have himself killed by one of the boy's relatives. The two lied on the ground facing each other and when he had that nightmare his aura flared up in deep blood red. His father sensed it and rushed to his son's room. His mom came with the family rosary and said some prayers. Wil knew the prayers were superficial at best, but did his best to calm down and the Old Catholic prayers did provide some comfort. As the sun came in the window, he knew he had to talk to the boy about what happened.

The former Children were still cross with what went down between them and Danny. Only with Sam and Tucker they were civil due to their help yesterday. But Danny was still frustrated, he admitted his fault, but had a difficult time grappling with how the Children could've killed those men even if they were Moradi's memories. Shinji had nightmares involving his old life in Kyoto and started to question his decision about going. Asuka had had nightmares about how her mother's suicide in Berlin and also began questioning about going back to Germany. Dante also had nightmares about his mother's death as well as his father's and his near accidental death by his own hand. He's also questioning his decision on being so far from his two comrades. But in spite of their worries, neither has said a word to one another…yet.

After rehearsal, the teenagers packed up their things and headed out. But Moradi called on seven of them to stay to discuss a few things. Asuka, Dante, Shinji, Wilfredo, Alberto, Gilberto and Zane looked at each other and stayed in their seats. As the other students left, he closed the door, brought up a chair and sat down facing the anxious teens.

"Kids…from what happened yesterday…no words can adequately describe how I felt when I saw you helping me out of the classroom. I'm truly touched," he said with restrained emotion and the kids felt their throats closing up, "But I do want to know what that ghost was and how four of you were able to do the things you did," he looked at Wilfredo, Dante, Asuka and Shinji. He also looked at the others by how they looked beat up yesterday, but retained his focus on the four.

The four teens looked at each other and nodded, "Well, we knew something was wrong when we heard automatic weapons fire," Wilfredo started, "And when we saw those soldiers with Lebanese and Israeli uniforms…well we knew a ghost was involved."

Moradi sighed, "Yes, I was in Lebanon when war broke out in the 1980's. A past even to this day I feel uncomfortable about discussing. I was in university at the time studying for my masters in music. But then the war came and I fled for Paris with my prepared visa, some money, and my transcripts. There I finished my masters and applied for a graduate program in early music performance. In Paris was where I met my wife and married there. It was years before I returned to Beirut and the country was damaged beyond what I thought. But praise God that my family managed to survive that hell. After a few years living in Paris and raising our daughter, we decided to head for the US and start anew. The rest is history," he finished telling his story.

To say their professor's tale stunned the teens would be a colossal understatement. And on some level, most of them identified with his tale with their own families fleeing countries ravaged by war and historical prejudices. The Children felt closer to Moradi with their own histories dealing with war, mistrust and utter helplessness prior to their involvement with NERV.

Moradi then asked the four teens about their abilities. They looked at each other again decided to demonstrate their abilities rather than to explain it. Wil showed his aura glowing blood red and how he told Moradi about his dreams involving djinns and demons. He was astonished and continued to be fascinated when the Children demonstrated their abilities by manipulated the glass bottle they brought to show their abilities.

Moradi however, like the others in the group has had the same question played over and over in his head, _'Why are these kids so reluctant about revealing their pasts? Are they so traumatized that even uttering a word to strangers would instigate a breakdown? Poor kids, wish I could help them out but I suspect they are handling it fine. Or at least, giving the impression that they are.'_

After talking for a while longer, Moradi thanked them and escorted them out of the school. As the teens said their goodbyes they headed for their homes, Moradi the eerie blue of the sky above. He headed back inside to finish up his paper work and gathered his belongings and headed for home half an hour later. As he drove home he noticed the same boy he spoke to two days earlier at the stoplight. The boy's sad yet focused gaze unnerved him and when the green light came on he drove off. He took one last look at the boy in the overhead mirror, when he blinked butterflies took the boy's place. He blinked several times and focused on the road ahead.

As the butterflies flew upwards towards the sky, they guided themselves to the east by the winds. Once after covering some distance away from the school, the butterflies landed on a hill overlooking the Amity District and barely seeing the metropolitan area of Philadelphia. The butterflies gathered on the grass, clumping together and in a few moments the boy got up and looked at the scenery before him.

"Professor Moradi, I'm glad you're safe and able to reveal your past with your musicians. Now its up to the other kids to reveal their pasts, and I know it will be extremely difficult for them. I wonder if there's a way to help them? Am I deluding myself and my capabilities," he wondered out loud. He let the wind gently soothe his concerns as the sun began to set the sky showed began to reveal hues of red, maroon and pink in the increasing dark.

He stood up and walked down the hill to face his fate, a fate he desperately tried to run from for so long.

**May 2005, week one, Sunday**

**2:51pm**

Sun pierced through Asuka's bedroom as the afternoon stretched itself to make the lazy day last longer. Throughout the day she and Shinji stayed in the house while Dante hung out with the guys from the orchestra. Sam hung out with Danny and Tucker, although she tried to get them to come with her, they politely declined her offer. Shinji's head lay on Asuka's thighs, he was napping as she ran her hand through his now tousled head of hair. She knelt down to kiss him. Shinji felt her lips on his own and surprised her by starting a make out session. He raised himself up and both sat face to face and made out. He leaned forward as she leaned back, their tongues played against each other and Shinji's hand rubbed Asuka's abdomen as he moved it upward towards her breasts. She moaned and he became more assertive as he put his other hand under her shirt and reached for the bra's hooks at the back. As the hooks came undone, he took off the bra under her shirt, cast it to his side and had his same hand to explore her breasts. She continued to moan as he then began to kiss her neck and gently biting down.

After a few minutes of doing this, they stopped to catch their breath and looked at each other. Their lips swollen and their eyes glazed with lust, longing, and other emotions they can't bring themselves to express.

"I don't want to leave you," he said quietly as he rested his forehead on top of Asuka's, "Neither do I," she replied. The two rested against each other for a while until they returned to lying down on the bed. After a few minutes of napping they woke up and stared at each other, their hands laced together.

"Come to Japan with me," Shinji said, "Come to Germany with me," she intended to reply half-jokingly until she saw the serious expression on his face, "I'm serious Asuka. It sucks to think after all this time, finally getting to know each other, going out on dates and working out the shit that messed us up…and we're going our separate ways," he explained his despair. Asuka stared at him and began to rub his side comfortingly.

"I know this is unfair…but you have to understand that if we don't do this, we'll never know," she said, "Never know what," he asked and she sighed lazily, "Never know if we're able to survive and live without having our pasts overshadowing us."

Shinji looked at her and leaned in closer until his nose touched hers, "But aren't you afraid of returning to Germany? Aren't you afraid of reliving moments that led up to your mom's…your mom's," Shinji couldn't finish, he knew the subject was still a sore one for Asuka.

She looked at him and gently placed a kiss on his lips, "I know it would be painful head back to Germany, but I have to," Asuka said softly, "Why," he couldn't help but wonder what's turning in his pseudo-girlfriend's head, "To reconcile whatever I feel about Germany. It's the same for you and Dante, albeit different circumstances."

Shinji didn't say anything for a while…he couldn't say anything. He just looked at her and started to neck Asuka. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the attention he's giving her. He then moved on top of her. In his mind, he couldn't help but feel extremely attached to Asuka, her scent, her attitude, her drive for a better life, her musical talent, all of it just entranced him. He didn't want to let her go, he wanted to stay with her. But knew whatever he wished for, only the realistic wishes would be fulfilled.

"Shinji," she said and he was brought back from his inner world, "Yes," he asked. She turned her head and smiled at him, "We should enjoy the time we have left together," she caressed his face, "Who knows when we'll meet like this again."

Shinji looked at her and gave a defeated smile, "I know…but it's not enough," he said quietly but she heard, "I know…but we have no other alternative," she tried to reason with him, but knew that until their situation with the orchestra members they've befriended over the months is resolved her reasoning is at best half-assed.

After a few moments they separated and Shinji headed back to his room, gently closing Asuka's bedroom door. She looked outside and opened the window, letting the uninhibited sunlight envelop her body and face. The gentle spring breeze cooled her, the songbirds sang in the air as she played with one of the branches that now bore young leaves. She continued to think on what Shinji had said to her, but knew in her mind that even if her final decision is difficult to bear, it had to be done. She then noticed in the air a hawk swooping at a lone pigeon and caught it in its talons. She looked on fascinated at one of her favorite animals killing its prey carrying it away. Chuckling a bit she walked to her stereo, turned it on and replayed her album Hercules performed by Les Musiciens du Louvre, conducted by Marc Minkowski.

It picked up where she left off, "From celestial seats descending" sung by Richard Croft.

**3:35pm**

Dante hung out with his four musician friends for most of the afternoon already. Now they were at the park, playing around with Alberto's soccer ball, kicking it back and forth, or at times, with their heads.

"Took bad Shinji and Asuka decided to bail on us today," Wilfredo said as he kicked the ball to Dante, "They didn't bail Wilfredo. They just wanted to have some "alone time"," he said and bounced the ball on his left foot for a bit.

"You mean some heavy PDA," Gilberto slyly pointed out. Dante smirked and kicked the ball to him and he caught it with his chest, bounced to his knew, then to his right foot and started bouncing it, "I know a dumb statement. Just saying the facts," he said and kicked the ball to Alberto, "We know. Dante how are things between you and that Fatma chick?"

Dante caught the ball with his hands, "Pretty good. Online relationships suck at best, but at least I get to see her face while video chatting," he said, "Plus her violin playing is just sublime," he added with a smile and kicked the ball to Zane, "But there are things you haven't said to her," Zane added as he caught the ball.

Dante looked at him and nodded quietly, "What are you keeping from us," Zane asked gently, knowing somehow the three foreigners' pasts are tragic. Dante looked at his four friends and gulped a bit, "I don't know how to begin. I mean…the three of us told you guys about us with no families and no place to call our official homes. But…" he fidgeted a bit. Not knowing why he should feel this way. He trusted them completely.

"But you're not ready," Wilfredo pointed out. Dante looked at him and nodded, "But with only a month or so before you three leave for Germany, Argentina and Japan; will you tell us before then," Dante looked at him. He gave a smile, "Of course. But let me talk to the other two when I get home. As well as to our guardians."

The four musicians agreed to this, citing it was fair, "And on a lighter note, I have a date tonight you guys," Gilberto said and the boys looked at him, "Really? Cool! Who with," Alberto asked, "Sarah," and the four boys looked at him with smirks on their faces. Gilberto didn't pay heed.

"Sarah? One of the first violinists," Dante asked, "Yeah," Gilberto replied, "Zane doesn't she have red hair," Wilfredo asked, "And blue eyes," Alberto added, "Yes, yes she does," Zane confirmed them.

Gilberto looked at them, "What are you guys getting at," now glaring suspiciously at his friends, "Dude, Sarah looks like Asuka," Zane said bluntly. Gilberto opened and closed his mouth a few times, but remained silent for a few moments…not knowing to kick their ass or to calmly explain why he asked out Sarah.

"Gentlemen," he said which made the other four musicians laugh; he chuckled a bit as well.

After a few minutes of teasing, ball busting and kicking around the ball the five boys part ways. Dante headed back to Sam's house and has been thinking about them since their altercation on Friday. He didn't mind if Danny was still somewhat upset and frustrated, his concerns lied in whether or not he, Asuka and Shinji would still be able to perform with the orchestra after heading for their new homes. Also, he's been thinking about Wilfredo's abilities and how he managed to ward off that spirit who targeted Moradi. But even that didn't explain the sequence of nightmares that followed afterwards.

He then noticed a flock of pigeon sized butterflies flying overhead. All of them black, "Beautiful. But butterflies never get to that size," he quietly muttered to himself as he crossed the street, leaving the park behind him. The butterflies never left his mind.

**4:05pm**

Danny and his friends were at the Nasty Burger, discussing about Friday's events involving Anamnesis.

_-Flashback, Friday-_

_After taking the thermos back to Fenton works, containing the ghost, it gave one last attempt to escape. Danny fought it off, keeping it in the basement, but he had Sam and Tucker to help him out this time. The ghost tried to attack Danny's friends and having their traumatic memories come to life, but then Danny struck back without mercy. After witnessing what it was capable of back at the school, giving the others a rough time, he wanted to make sure it would never come back to the human realm. After a few minutes, Danny fired a new ability he was practicing with, firing a shot infusing his energy blast with his ice abilities. The end result was devastating, the ghost landed on the floor hard and nearly passed out._

_Sam opened the ghost portal and before Danny dragged the ghost back to where it belongs, it began talking, "Damn it! Why can't I win," he said defeated._

_Danny looked at it, "I don't know. Maybe bad guys aren't supposed to win," he said spitefully, "What makes you think I'm bad," Anamnesis asked with no hint of malice but full with curiosity._

"_Are you kidding me? You nearly killed my friends and me! If that doesn't qualify you as bad or evil, then I don't know what does," yelled and Anamnesis looked at him with regret._

"_I know what I've done. But something that medium did to today…when he struck my head…I began to remember how I came about in the first place." Danny and his friends went silent when the ghost confessed._

"_One of the main reasons why a ghost would come the human realm is to relive their lives. Even for a few hours or days, possessing someone to enjoy the pleasures of life…As for me, when I was subjected to the medium's powers, I remembered the real reason why I attacked you last month and what I did today," Anamnesis then continued, "My powers lie in people's memories. To have them relieve their darkest moments in order to reach some form of a catharsis."_

_Sam then spoke up, "Then who or what made you forget," she asked. The ghost nodded in frustration and his face matched, "I don't know."_

"_What do you mean you don't know," Danny asked incredulously, "I mean that he suddenly appeared in front of me in the park, raised up his hand covered in blood and then…a flash of light. All I kept hearing in my head was to attack you and focus on the three foreigners, and that medium," he explained._

"_Why," Tucker asked, "Because those voices said that if I attack them first I could then focus on that boy. That young boy who isn't a ghost," the three teenagers looked at him and at each other. They knew who he was talking about, "Is that all," Danny said, now calm. The ghost nodded a yes._

_He then freed himself from Danny's grasp, "I'll show myself home," he said and looked at the teens, "Remember you three, not everything is black and white. Only shades of grey…maybe that way of looking at things will help you understand the boy and the other four," he added and disappeared into the Ghost Portal. _

_-End flashback-_

Tucker finished the last of his Coke, "So what now? With everything we looked into about the boy and Anamnesis," he asked his friends. Before Sam could reply, they noticed Jazz and Valerie entering and sitting down in their table.

"Hey guys. Tucker sent us a text," Valerie said. Ever since the incident in the Antarctic, she helps out Danny and the others whenever she could. Though nowadays she's more concerned in finding a part-time job in order to earn money that could help her to get to college.

"Guys…its about the three we saved from the Antarctic," Sam said with clenched hands and looked at them. Valerie and Jazz now knew where this conversation might lead, with Linkin Park's "Pushing Me Away" over the radio.

**4:30pm**

The three former Children were in Shinji's room. He told them he needed to talk and when the two European teenagers asked why he wouldn't give his reason. They sat on the floor, cross-legged and looked at each other, but the two looked at Shinji waiting for him to begin.

"Guys…I've been rethinking about my decision to leave for Kyoto," Shinji began and continued, "And…maybe we should stick together for a little longer until the time is right."

Dante just looked at him surprised while Asuka sighed, knowing he still had this on his mind even after their bedroom time together earlier. But this didn't mean Asuka wasn't surprised. Both looked at each other and turned to Shinji.

"Look Shinji, I don't know what's going on with you, but we've already made our decision. Turning back on our agreements with the embassies isn't an option for us anymore," Dante said, trying to get through to Shinji.

Asuka glanced at Dante and turned her gaze to her pseudo-boyfriend, "Shinji as much as I hate to say this, but Tripodo here has a point. Despite whatever you're feeling from Friday doesn't mean you have to…" before she could finish Shinji interrupted her.

"It's not about Friday," he said loudly causing the Europeans to flinch. He looked at them and sighed, "Because of Friday, I've been recollecting about our time in NERV and…those soldiers from the Moradi's memory just reminded me of the JSSDF. For some reason, something like that will follow us to our new homes," Shinji admitted his newfound fears and continued, "I just…don't want us to be separated again. And…and," Asuka and Dante moved towards him and patted his shoulders.

"Listen please, we know it's going to be tough to live different lives. But this orchestra can serve as our bridge. The website's good enough to have live video chats with minimal delay and we can still provide support," Dante said comfortingly.

Asuka did the same thing, "And also, with our counseling over the months with our Turkish guardians and the counselors at the embassies, things have progressed smoothly…don't go back to how you were. Move on, please," she said softly and Shinji couldn't help but look at her. He lifted her hand off of his shoulder and the same went for Dante's hand. He got up, went to his drawer and took out two things. He walked back to them and showed them his cranial clippings.

Asuka and Dante looked at him, waiting to see what's going to come next. He then calmly placed the clippings on top of his drawer and opened his bedroom door, motioning the two to leave. They got up and quietly left the room, taking quick glances at the former Third Child. Shinji took one glance at them and calmly closed the door. Before Asuka and Dante walked away they heard stomping and yelling from Shinji's room. Asuka and Dante wanted to go in there and calm him down, but knew from their past emotional breakdowns, it was best to leave him be…for the moment. They headed downstairs and went to the kitchen so the Italian could make some mate.

The two uttered one word to sum up what just occurred, "Shit."

**Monday, Amity High, 3:35pm**

Wilfredo texted to his friends that rehearsals for today have been cancelled due to the professor heading for the university to discuss with other music professors about the future of the orchestra. His friends left for home and the three foreign friends were also notified about the news. They stayed home. Wilfredo walked down the stairs and headed down the first floor hallway and noticed the pack of cheerleaders heading for the football field to practice. He continued to walk until he was at the front entrance, but before he took his leave, he was forced down by an invisible force and landed face down. His tilted to the left and noticed how a few students passing him without taking notice. Everything around him was silent. Silent except for heavy footsteps, laced in leather and then the mysterious man stopped in front of Wilfredo, pressing the tip of his rifle directly on his head.

He stood there not doing anything for a few moments until he spoke, "I don't know who you are. But I would like for you to stay away from the boy. **No quiero matar a un inocente.** (I don't want to kill an innocent.) **Sin embargo, él es culpable de estar involucrado indirectamente con el partido comunista. **(He however is guilty for indirectly being involved with the communist party.) **Vosotros erais el enemigo. **(They were the enemy.")

Wilfredo struggled to speak, "**Él tiene once ****años! Hijo de puta!** (He's eleven years old! Son of a bitch!)," then felt the tip of the rifle pressed harder into his head. He grimaced in pain, "**No importa, pero si insistes en ayudarlo he te va a matar.** (Doesn't matter, but if you insist on helping him I will kill you.)," he took off the rifle off of his head, "**¿Entiendes?**(Understand?)," he then began to walk away.

He got himself up and found himself standing up, but noticed how everyone who walked passed him went about their normalcy. He then glanced at his watch and noticed how only seven seconds elapsed between reaching the door and having an impromptu conversation with a potentially dangerous man. He walked out the door and headed for the bus stop, not knowing Danny and his friends stood behind him, watching and monitoring the entire event.

**At that same moment**

The three former Children were walking back home after heading for a grocery store. Asuka volunteered to cook today, but she asked for some help from her male comrades. While carrying their bags, Dante's cellphone beeped with a text message from the automated program to updating the EVA hardware.

"What is it," Asuka asked. Dante read the text and closed his cellphone, "My laptop sent me a text that pretty soon, the program I started running a few weeks ago to update the EVAs hardware and software to our current computer system will commence in the next two days," he stated.

The two looked at him, "What does that mean for us? You know, our abilities," Shinji asked, "To be honest, I don't know. There are some things we have to sit back and let it happen," Dante said.

Asuka switched her bag from her left hand to her right, "I would rather have all the data first. But if your monitoring is still coming up with ambiguous results, than…I guess you have a point."

Shinji however wasn't entirely too sure, their abilities have grown exponentially since their inception in January. But there were still too many ambiguous questions about whether or not to use them, let alone experiment with them.

**At the bus stop**

Wilfredo waited for the bus, which was running a little late than usual. He then felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned his head noticed Danny and his friends looking serious and concerned.

"Hey guys," Wilfredo greeted in an exhausted tone, "Hey, um…we got what just happened to you," Tucker said and Wilfredo's eyes widened at the news. Tucker then showed him his PDA and it showed a black silhouette form of Wil's body and how his energy was directed to the floor by an outside force that was colored maroon. After an elapsed time of a few seconds, the Wil's energy was reverted back to his body. Tucker then closed the reading and put away his PDA.

Wilfredo adjusted his backpack's strap, "Why are you showing me this," he asked, uncertain on how to take the news, "So we can see on how to put an end to this. From what we caught, this is starting to spiral out of our control and perhaps if you're willing, you might want to join our efforts," Jazz said.

The Portuguese teen just looked at them with bemused looks, "Your efforts? You barely had contact with that boy. And now with my first experience with that man who is haunting him for god knows how long, you think you figured it out? That's rich…really rich," he sneered at his classmates out of frustration and exhaustion.

"Well what do you expect? You barely mention any of it to us when it's clear you have no fucking idea on how to handle this," Sam said loudly clearly pissed with Wil's disinterested comments about their heroic deeds, "Face it! You're just as lost as we are!"

Wil just looked at her and clearly saw how cross they were with him. Not so much as portraying anger, but frustrated on how he showed them little trust with the issue involving with the boy and now the man. He heard his bus coming, but remained focused on them.

"I am lost I admit that. But I'm not afraid of death if that indeed comes when getting involved with pseudo-historical ghostly memories," he said just as the bus stopped behind him. He turned around and got on the bus. The bus then drove off leaving the frustrated teenagers.

"That went well," Valerie said, "And by the looks of this, I rather face Vlad in battle again," she added. Danny glanced at her and sighed, "For once, I agree." Danny said and put his hands in his pocket and the five headed down the street.

"And what about the other three? Shinji, Asuka and Dante," Valerie curiously asked, "With their abilities developing fast and from what just happened last Friday, things are going to get intense soon isn't it," she practically voiced what everyone else was thinking.

Sam adjusted her backpack's strap, "Yeah, they've been avoiding us since Friday and…and I overheard them talking once about them kind of reconsidering about leaving for their new homes," she said and Danny eyed her. But he didn't say anything and just resumed walking.

**Tuesday, 2:55pm**

The boy ran down the street heading for an apartment under renovation. He noticed the man was still running after him with his rifle ready for fire. The boy then headed ups the fire escape as fast as he could. He narrowly missed the bullets being, but then one cleared the railing and struck him in the ear. He yelled in agony but proceeded to go up the fire escape. Once on the roof he looked back expecting for the man to be climbing up the railing, but only heard the flapping of a pigeon's wings as it flew from the roof to the telephone poll across the street.

He headed for the door that led downstairs. The door was locked, "**Merda** (Shit)," he muttered under his breath and decided to leap from the roof and landed on the roof of the apartment building next door. As he ran for the door, he felt a bullet pierce his already injuring right side…right where the man shot the first time his liver. The boy yelled, as he never had before, the pain brought back memories of his home near Barcelona. The boy saw the man before him and he was about to fire another shot, but the boy unleashed a torrent of energy that sent the man flying backward. As the man got up the black butterflies headed off to his right, directly for Amity High but the man soon quickly followed.

In the air, the man flew after the butterflies. He tried to fire his rifle at the flock, but each time the butterflies would just disperse or the boy's spirit would block them with an energy field. Then the man readjusted the rifle around his shoulder and used his own energy to force the butterflies down onto one of the rooftops of a commercial building, just across from Amity High.

**Meanwhile**

Wilfredo sat in his sixth period class, moving his feet impatiently so he could head for rehearsals. Due to the warm weather, he wore a white t-shirt, light blue jeans and white sneakers. He also doodled in his notebook, mostly symbols that repeat themselves in his dreams: the crucifix, an orb with two black waves surrounding it and a memory where he and his cousin played in Brooklyn.

But then he felt two massive energies coming from across the street that rattled the windows. The class jumped from fear and Wilfredo got up and headed out the door. The teacher yelled after him, but he paid no heed, he just continued to run down to the first floor and with the security guards in their office he was free to go outside. He ran across the street narrowly missing the traffic and still feeling the energy emanating from the roof. He started to go up the fire escape, breathing heavily and his legs beginning to vibrate from sudden overuse.

Wilfredo reached the roof and noticed the man over the boy's body. The man tried to send out an energy wave in order to knock him out. However, Wil used his own energy to block the wave, the little that passed through made him stumble. He regained his stance and stared at the man, who now has a pistol aiming for Wil's head while still holding his rifle over the passed out boy.

**On the street, heading for Amity High**

The former Children walked silently for the high school with the three lost in their thoughts. With the heat, the three wore light clothing with Asuka wearing her white sundress with short-heeled shoes, Dante in a white long sleeved shirt and khaki cargo shorts accompanied with sandals while Shinji wore a simple white polo shirt and blue jeans. The three glanced at life passing by, wondering about the orchestra's future, the events that passed and their uncertainties about each other's willingness to move on and have a life.

But then a sharp tinnitus-like noise penetrated their ears. The three stopped and dropped their messenger bags. The noise sharpened and the three were forced to the ground, their heads in pain and tears strolling down their faces. Shinji lied down on his side and felt the old wound in his torso ripping through the skin. He scrunched his face in agony and tears flowed down his face more fiercely, he glanced at his two friends who face similar torture and then lied down on his back facing the sky.

Asuka clutched her body with all the strength she could muster, trying to compose herself, but to no avail; she was failing and felt the wounds she suffered months prior reopening. Her back started to bleed again so she lied down on her left side to lessen the pain. She noticed Shinji lying on his back with his eyes closed and his expression still read pain. She then felt blood pooling around her hands. She continued to look at Shinji…until she blacked out.

Dante watched as his two comrades continued to suffer from some unknown form of torture. He then heard his cellphone beeped, before he could reach into his pocket his head began to resonate with pain and felt blood forming on his forehead and from his hairline. His eyes rolled back into his head and to top it off, the pain began to concentrate on his feet where blood also began to form. He then blacked out as well, unable to handle the pain. His cellphone however still vibrated, desperate to alert him about the news involving the EVA.

**Back on the roof**

Wilfredo felt three pulses of energy emanating from the streets below. He turned his head but before he could check it out, he heard the man pulling the trigger. He instantly flinched, but felt no pain. Instead, he noticed the boy on the man, forcing the man's arm upward and firing his shot. The boy then wrestled the pistol out of his hand and throwing it in front of Wilfredo. He then picked up the pistol and looked at it, while at the same time looking at the memorial spirits fighting it out with a bar of iron against the sturdy rifle.

Wil then gulped down his nerves and shakily held up the pistol, aiming it at the man. He pulled the trigger and the man's head tilted at an angle and fell to the ground. The boy got off of the man and stood up, looking at Wilfredo who just kept the pistol in place and having to take deep breaths through his gaping mouth. He then let the pistol fall to the roof and he ran towards the boy. He knelt down and turned the man over.

"Shit," Wil muttered, "He's going to disappear before I could dive into his mind," he was about to grasp the man's head but the boy stopped him. He looked up at the boy who had a tired, but serious expression. He then led him over to the roof's edge back to the fire escape's railing.

"I'll handle the man, you go down there and try to help out the three," the boy said but Wil didn't know what he meant until he saw Asuka and Dante passed out and Shinji recovering from something awful.

"What the hell," Wil muttered but the boy urged him to get back on the railing and he did, **"****Lembra-te Wilfredo, que o que quer que aconteça, aconteceu por causa de coisas que ficaram por dizer. Nós vamos ter a nossa conversa hoje à noite, mas antes disso, vais ter de fazer com que aqueles três ali em baixo se abram em relação aos seus passados. Estamos ententidos?"** (Remember Wilfredo, whatever happens, it happened because of things were left unsaid. We'll have our conversation tonight, but before that you'll have to urge the three down there to open up about their pasts. Do you understand?")

Wil turned his head and saw Shinji shaking his two friends out of their unconsciousness. He didn't know what to say, but he looked at the boy and nodded, signaling his understanding. He began to go down the fire escape as fast as he could with sweat pouring down his face and wetting the back of his shirt. His legs ached from exhaustion, but he pushed through the pain and once on the ground again he ran to his three friends as fast as he could. He noticed camera flashes on him and on his three friends from people and older students who didn't have a sixth period. Wil didn't pay attention and ran up to Shinji with his hands glowing blood red.

**Just moments before**

Shinji felt the pain in his chest subside, but exhaustion set in. He struggled to sit up and once he did he noticed Asuka and Dante passed out, bloodied up as he was. He crawled towards Asuka and held her in his arms; immediately memories of Antarctica came flooding back. He checked her pulse and was relieved that she was still alive; he then kissed her forehead. He then glanced at Dante; he gently laid Asuka back on the ground and moved towards him. He checked his pulse to make sure he too was alive and again he was relieved. He picked up Dante slightly and moved him next to Asuka. He looked at the two and held them in his arms. He wasn't too strong, but he didn't care. He started to tear up and inevitably cried out. His groans rang around him but knew no one would pay attention or even do anything.

He then heard footsteps rushing in his direction from behind. He grew angry at the thought of someone who would yell at them to move out of the way. He was about to turn around to activate his AT Field, but stopped at the sight of Wilfredo, whose hands glowed blood red and had an exhausted expression on his face and sweat all over.

"What happened," Shinji yelled out, "I should ask you the same question," he yelled and stopped in front of him. Shinji looked at him and then at his two comrades. He reached out his hand to caress Asuka's hairline. Wilfredo noticed and knelt down to put his hand on Shinji's right shoulder. He glanced at his musician friend and clasped his hand, appreciating the gesture.

Wil then knelt in front of the two unconscious Europeans, "I'm going to try something Shinji. Don't be afraid and try to relax," he positioned his hands above their heads. Shinji looked at Wilfredo, unsure and curious about his ability. He then noticed Wil's aura glowed a faint red and his eyelids drooping down and his eyes glowed a faint red as well.

**Meanwhile**

Danny followed by Sam, Tucker, Valerie, and Jazz rushed out of the entrance and headed down the street where they noticed Wilfredo kneeling down and holding his hands above Asuka and Dante as Shinji looked on. They then looked at Shinji who had blood on his shirt like the other two and how Wilfredo had sweated through something hardcore. They walked up to them quickly and saw Shinji looking at them with a surprised look.

Unable to speak he just looked at them, "Shinji…what happened," Jazz asked now concerned. Shinji didn't know what to say, but then he heard Dante's phone vibrating again. He moved slowly to where the Italian was and took out his phone discreetly as to not break Wil's concentration. He flipped it open and what he read shocked him to hell. He read the other missed texts over the span of a few minutes and they all had the same message: EVA Units undergoing a self-diagnostic check.

He closed the phone and looked at the unconscious two, "What is it? What did the phone have," Sam spoke up, but Shinji didn't look at her, he just stayed focused on the German, the Italian and now the Portuguese American.

"Shinji…what's going on," Sam walked to Shinji and knelt down. She then clasped his left shoulder, "You can tell us," she softly said. He looked up at her and gave her the phone. She eyed him and opened the phone. She went to the messages icon and opened the recent texts Shinji just looked at. Her eyes widened and showed the others the messages. They read it and their eyes widened as well, and by looking at the three and their blood covered clothing, they pieced together what happened.

After what seemed like a few minutes, Asuka and Dante gasped for breath and Wilfredo slumped back. He calmed down so his aura could dissipate. Asuka and Dante hugged him in thanks. Wilfredo and Dante helped each other up while Shinji and Asuka helped each other up. The four now stood eye to eye with their friends. Shinji and his two friends went back to Sam's house to change out of their dirty clothes, ignoring the stares and hushed remarks from people passing by. Wilfredo and the others headed back inside, narrowly missing the security guards and other faculty members patrolling the halls.

**Amity High, 3:43pm**

The three returned to the high school with new sets of clothing. Asuka wore a yellow shirt and jeans with Converse, Dante wore a black shirt with white pants and Reebok sneakers and Shinji chose to wear a blue polo shirt with black jeans and Nike sneakers. They arrived late, much to the impatience of everyone, but they apologized and carried on with the rehearsals. They rehearsed the Handel piece for their upcoming concert on Friday, and afterwards Moradi handed out copies of the score they're going to rehearse in the coming two weeks.

The students were surprised by the professor's choice for the seniors' graduation; the piece was going to push them to their limits. But overall they were excited and couldn't wait to perform it. During their rehearsal, things went smoothly, albeit the former Children and Wilfredo along with his friends were somewhat anxious to leave so they could talk.

**5:14pm**

With rehearsal over the musicians gathered their belongings and left the classroom. The former Children along with their four musician friends headed out last, silent with one another, but knew that would end once they reach Danny's house. Once outside all of them headed for the bus stop across the street. After twelve minutes of waiting the bus came, they boarded and headed for 'Fenton Works'. Along the way all of them sat in silence and once in sight of Danny's home they got off. Their chests tightened with anxiety and after crossing the street, Shinji went up the stairs and knocked on the door. After a few moments the door opened, Danny was there and gave them a small smile, but his face then returned to a serious expression. The musicians entered the home and noticed Danny, his friends in the armchairs and his family standing in the living room.

They set their stuff on the floor and sat down on the sofa. They remained quiet for a few moments until Shinji dared to speak up, "What happened today…we didn't know what happened. I can't explain it."

Wilfredo shifted in his spot, "I had my own dilemma, but then the boy showed what's going on and I…I rushed over to them," he said, looking at the former Children.

"What I felt…on the ground was…was something to what happened to us in the Antarctic and…" before she could continue, she immediately realized what she just said. The four musicians looked at them bewildered and wanted to hear more. She looked at Dante who nodded, as did Shinji.

She took in a deep breath as did her comrades, "Well, there were some things we didn't tell you guys," she looked at the musicians whose silent expressions urged her to continue, "…It started in the beginning of January…but it has its roots in our pasts," she started and the weight of the EVA just begun to lift off of her shoulders.

**Wilfredo's apartment building**

The boy sat on the ledge of Wilfredo's apartment building, waiting for him. He watched the sun beginning to set and his own white butterfly fluttering about. He recalled the images of the man he had to deal with leaving Wilfredo to go to his friends' aid. He remembered going into the man's unconscious mind, diving around in his memories. What he saw was that he did join the Fascist Part under the direction of Francisco Franco, but his motives were at a cost. He had to betray his family who were on the side of the Communist Republicans and what was more sad, his family was Jewish.

That day in the outskirts, during a private raid, the man appeared with his troop and began to kill everyone. He remembered the moment where the man shot him in the liver. Dying slowly he took one last look at the man who was about to kill his best friend and used his own energy to strike him in the head, killing him instantly. His best friend looked on for a few more moments and left to find his family. He saw the dead bodies everywhere. The man was then turned around by his troop during an inspection check. The boy saw his soul giving him a penetrating look as if saying _'No matter how far down the road of memories and time, I will find you'_.

That was the moment where in fear, he forced his soul into the darkly lit void where he remained and learned since his death. Since coming out of the void, befriending the Portuguese American who has a past connected with his own in an unknown way, he made the man to look at his memories and actually recall each one. Thanks to Wilfredo firing the pistol, laced with his own aura. Now back in reality, looking down at the street below, he stood up and let himself get covered by his butterflies and took a nap…waiting for Wilfredo.

**Danny's house, 6:12pm**

The four musicians left the house followed by the former Children. Sam decided to stay with Danny and the others so they could discuss what to do next and call the Children's Turkish guardians. When the door closed the three looked at the four and the four looked back at the three. The four slowly let the histories of their friends seep in, all of it was intense and Wilfredo admitted to the others how he had a feeling about their states. The Children however were relieved to have told others about their histories. Neither side could say anything, until Shinji coughed to clear his throat to break the silence.

"So...see you guys tomorrow," he said, "Yeah," Wilfredo responded quietly. They stood in their spots for a few more moments until they left in opposite directions. Danny and the others looked out the window and watched the moment pass. Now that four more people know of the former Children's past, they'll probably reveal it to Professor Moradi later in the week.

**later that night, 10:34pm**

Wilfredo went up to the roof once his family was noticed a clumping of black butterflies near the ledge and went up to it. One step away, the butterflies flew up and disappeared, revealing the boy sleeping. He knelt down to, "Dude, I'm here," the boy tilted his head and looked up at him, "Hello, glad you could make our chat tonight."

Wilfredo gave a grimaced smile. The boy stood up and the two sat on the roof's edge, about to have their conversation. The boy then started on the details on what went down between himself and the man. Wil also mentioned he wanted to talk about the former Children of the EVA. The boy agreed and continued with his end, "After you left, I dove into his memories."

**I decided to end this chapter at this point. A full description of their conversation would've been redundant here. I tried my best to have the internal conflicts externalized here. The bit in the beginning was I imagined how the boy came into reality and to have a clearer idea, read the ending of the first chapter to Four Walls. I would like to thank HolyDragoon for his Portuguese contribution. The Catalan bit, well, I used Google for assistance. Read, review, critique and I'll see you in the next chapter. **

**The Handel piece I selected was from the album Concerti Grossi Opus 3, performed by Les Musiciens du Louvre-Grenoble conducted by Marc Minkowski.**


	8. June 2005

**LES MUSICIENS**

**2005**

**A Crossover Story**

**This chapter was partially inspired by two pieces of music, "Coyita" by Gustavo Santaolalla (the third and final voice for 2005) and the other is "Negra Sombra" by Luz Casal. Unlike previous chapters, or even previous stories I've done, this chapter takes place over the course of one month. However, it will not be super long, probably in similar length to my recent chapter. **

**After writing two chapters that basically comprised one long chapter dealing with both external and internal conflicts, this one is more…hopeful, if there's a better word for it. Meaning, after the months of mistrust and confusion, things fall on more civil grounds.**

**Also, there will be cameo appearances of Ben, Gwen, and Max Tennyson from Ben 10, encountering Danny during a ghost attack. And for the sake of chronological sensibility, Ben and Gwen are 12 years old here and are just visiting Philadelphia on the start of their summer vacation.**

"**Probably there is no memory other than the memory of wounds"**

**-Czelaw Milosz**

**Chapter Seven**

**June 2005, week one, Monday**

**Amity High, 4:30pm**

After an hour of rehearsing their chosen piece for 2005's graduating class, Professor Moradi allowed the students to take a 15-minute break. Asuka and Shinji walked down the hall for the stairway and headed for the walkway outside the cafeteria that led to the football field. Both of them held hands along the way and once at the fence surrounding the football field. They stood side by side watching the football players preparing for their final match of the season and cheerleaders rehearsing their choreography.

Asuka took out her iPod, put one ear-bud in her right ear and handed Shinji the other for his left ear. Then she searched for a song to listen to for their break together, she picked one and both just listened to "Drowned World/Substitute for Love" by Madonna.

As the two listened they watched American life being played out on the field, "**私達のちょうど2つのいいことがあるかもしれません****。** (It's nice with just the two of us)," Shinji said and took a glance at Asuka. Since what happened back in April and May, he felt the distance between them closed a bit more.

"**うん、それ****である。** (Yeah it is)," she said quietly and also glanced at his serene expression. She scooted closer; she then interlocked her right arm with his left. Down to the point where their hands interlocked.

_Last month, a week after what happened between them and how Wilfredo helped them out with his abilities Moradi's plans to have them perform at a music festival in Montreal, Canada came as the one thing to set things right between them and their new friends. During their weekend in Montreal, they performed the __**Concerti Grossi Op.3 by Georg Friedrich H**__**ä**__**ndel**__ on Saturday, as well as H__ä__ndel's __**Sonata a 5**__ on Sunday. _

_Also, while on the weekend, Asuka and Shinji decided to take moments together to walk around the area near their hotel. Also, making out was something that came naturally between them nowadays. Especially when he went into her hotel room and have their private moments together, lying besides one another when her roommate stepped out to take a brief tour of the city with the other musicians. _

Staring out at the field with their arms still interlocked, Asuka felt now she's almost over the trauma from not just the EVA, but also her childhood that was tainted by her mother's suicide. Shinji also felt his past's demons don't matter as they used to, his father abandoning him and his mother disappearing into Unit-01. The two stayed there, next to the fence until Asuka looked at her wristwatch…she groaned at the time.

"**それは何ですか？** (What is it?)," Shinji asked, "**Wir müssen zurück ins Musikzimmer, bevor die anderen die Hölle zu necken kannvon uns, wenn wir zu spät kommen****.** (We have to get back to the music room before the others can tease the hell out of us if we're late.)," Asuka said, not wanting to end their moment together. But knew their friends would tease the hell out of them for their romantic interludes.

Shinji grimaced at the thought, but knew they were coming from a benign place, "**あなたがそう言うのであれば** (If you say so)," he said and both walked back to the main building with their hands still laced together with intertwined fingers, "**Aber später, können wir dort weitermachen, wo ****wir aufgehört haben.** (But later, we can pick up where we left off.)," he whispered to her ear. She gave a light chuckle and playfully punched his shoulder, but still held his hand.

As they entered the building and headed upstairs for the music room, Asuka let go of Shinji's hand. He looked up and noticed Asuka's challenging smirk, he smirked back and she started to run upstairs and he quickly chased after her. Once the two reached the third floor, he caught up and hugged her from behind. Both giggled and Shinji puts his nose at the base of her neck and she grasped his arms that wrapped around her waist. He then started to put butterfly kisses on her neck, but never proceeded to put hickeys; both found them unnerving. She closed her eyes in contentment and once he was done they headed down the hall.

Dante noticed what his two comrades were just doing when they arrived on top of the stairs. He just exited the restroom and noticed Shinji necking Asuka as she expressed closed eye contentment and grasped his arms. He couldn't help but lean against the wall and take in the sweet sight of his friends enjoying themselves. But on some level, he felt somewhat envious of them enjoying themselves like this. He wished he had someone to share private moments of affection. He also knew at this time in his life, it wouldn't be possible. But he didn't rule out the possibilities, however, he also knew Shinji and Asuka have to work out how to maintain the relationship they have developed during their months in the States.

After seeing the two separating and heading for the music room, he proceeded for the room as well. He noticed other musicians returning from their break, a few of them walking briskly while the rest texted with their friends who hung out at the Nasty Burger and walking slowly. Once inside, they musicians went back to their seats or stood up with their instruments, making sure they were tuned. Professor Moradi returned a few minutes later.

**Lisbon, Portugal**

**Tuesday, 12:47am**

_**O tempo que eu hei sonhado**_

_**Quantos anos foi de vida!**_

_**Ah, quanto do meu passado**_

_**Foi s**__**ó**__** a vida mentida**_

_**De um futuro imaginado!**_

The line where Fernando Pereira da Silva, Wilfredo's grandfather left off as he drifted to sleep while reading Fernando Pessoa's poetry. The open book laid beside him on the lamp stand with his glasses on the open book. But he didn't put them there, his Spanish wife that has stayed with him since the days of Franco and Salazar; Lucila Valasquez put them there hours earlier when he dozed off. With the night blanketing their home and the streets outside where the trolley car tracks shone in the waning moonlight.

He then woke up to head for the restroom. Once he finished what he needed to do, he headed back to the bedroom but then heard the rustling of chairs from the dining room. He walked in the moonlit darkness to investigate and pulled on the cord to turn on the light in the dining room. The room lit up and sitting in one of the chairs was a boy he hasn't seen since 1938 when that awful massacre occurred in the hands of the Spanish Fascists. Both didn't say anything until Fernando took a chair and set it in front of the boy. As he sat down, he heard his wife coming to the dining room. She noticed her husband's serious expression and decided to join their soon to be discussion. She also pulled up a chair and sat beside her husband.

The boy looked at them both, and immediately felt a surge of envy; envy for the two aging and having full lives after the hell both have experience. On the other hand, he also felt sadness, sadness for the once young teenagers who travelled to the Catalonian region and finding themselves helping out families to find escape routes to flee from the increasingly violent civil war. He also remembered how when they fled for the train station in the city, hiding from the troops ordered to kill any suspected communist, he saw the two running holding hands and looking back with regret and frustration.

The boy shifted in his seat and looked at the two, "**Escolta, he estat en contacte amb el seu nét des de setembre de l'any passat. Des de llavors, les seves habilitats s'han desenvolupat considerablement****.** (Listen, I've been in contact with your grandson since September last year. Since then, his abilities have developed substantially.)"

The two elders nodded in acknowledgement, "**Ho sabem. El meu marit m'ha dit que quan va parlar amb Wilfredo en aquestdiumenge a la nit quan arribava a casa****.** (We know. My husband has told me when he talked to Wilfredo on that Sunday night when he came home.)," Lucila said as she rubbed Fernando's left shoulder.

Fernando then cleared his throat, "**També li vaig dir sobre les meves experiències a la cruïlla durant un tràé li vaig dir de les experiències de la meva dona també****.** (I also told him about my experiences on crossing over during a trance. I also told him of my wife's experiences as well.)," he looked her and she nodded, "**Es que no li han dit sobre la connexió a la nostra família ... I ara sé per què hasvingut aquí****.** (Be we haven't told him about your connection to our family…And I now know why you came here.)," he added and looked at the boy eye to eye.

The boy sighed, "**Sí, vull que li diguis tot el que en una carta. No puc dir perquè no ho vas a de conèixer a través de vostè. Ho entens****?** (Yeah, I want you to tell him everything in a letter. I can't tell him since he won't believe it. He has to know it through you. Do you understand?)"

Fernando looked at him and nodded a yes, the same as his wife, "**Vaig a començar a escriure aquesta setmana i el trametrà la setmana. Necessitorecordar certs moments que van conduir al que va passar amb vostè i per a nosaltres****.** (I'll start writing this week and send it next week. I need to remember certain moments that led up to what happened to you and to us.)," he said. The boy understood but since awakening in 2004, he had the only question that has plagued him since.

"**¿Te acuerdas de mi nombre****, por casualidad?** (Do you remember my name by any chance?)"

Fernando and Lucila looked at him uneasily, "**Lo sentimos, pero sólo sabemos su apellido. **(We're sorry, but we only know your last name.)," they revealed and the boy looked crestfallen, but nodded appreciatively, "**Gracias.** (Thank you.)"

The three sat in silence, letting the dark of night and the silence of the couple's home only filled by their beating hearts and their shallow breaths. The boy then got up and proceeded to the open window. He let himself dissipate into black butterflies and flew away into the night.

The elderly couple got up and headed back to their room. Once Lucila closed the door behind her, she looked at her husband. He looked at her and the silence between them was palpable, "**Voy a empezar a escribir en ****la mañana.** (I'll start writing in the morning.)," Fernando said quietly and got in bed, followed by his wife. Sleep took hold.

**Week two, Wednesday**

**Sam's house, 2:14pm**

In Asuka's bedroom, both she and Shinji slept with the blanket over them. She woke up first and looked at Shinji's sleeping form. She moved a little and let the sunlight's glare wake up her now boyfriend. Shinji's face squinted and opened his eyes, after blinking away the light's glare from his eye his sight focused on Asuka. He gave a smile as he sat up; he then placed a light kiss on her left cheek.

She smiled and playfully ruffled his hair, "**Wenn wir tun, diese Art der Sache zu halten, schon bald werden wir einfachaufwachen in unsere Unterwäsche****.** (If we keep doing this sort of thing, pretty soon we'll just wake up in our underwear.)," she coyly said as she looked at him wearing a white t-shirt and black sweat pants while she wore a black t-shirt and grey sweat pants.

He smiled and brushed some of her hair from her eyes and placed it behind her ear. He wanted to make up a comeback to impress her, but he couldn't. He was too relaxed. He got off the bed and headed to her stereo. He browsed through her CD collection and selected one. He popped it in and let the music commence, in this case "Seven Samurai" by Ryuichi Sakamoto.

He turned around and looked at her. He then proceeded back to where he was on her bed. He leaned forward and began to inhale her scent at the base of her neck as his hands grasped her shoulders. Asuka also began to inhale his scent at the base of his neck as well while she wrapped her arms around him and caressed his back. The more she did this, the more he felt comfortable. He brushed his hands down her arms and began to explore her body. First starting with her stomach and coming up to her breasts.

He then started to place light kisses on her neck as she did on his neck. But neither left hickeys on each other. But the feelings they were experiencing made them want to go further. Shinji wanted to unclench her bra under her shirt like how he did last month, but he didn't today. It was a one-time thing and both agreed days later that they were caught up in the moment.

As the music continued to play, the two separated a bit, but still in each other's arms, "**私は私の誕生日後に一度戻って美里のアパートの日で、これに耳を傾け思い****ます。** (To think I listened to this once back in Misato's apartment days after my birthday.)," Asuka lamented on the memory. Shinji smiled and frowned a bit at the memory…it was the epitome of hell for the three.

He leaned placed a kiss on her forehead, "**そして今、私たちの歌私たちは別々の道を行かなければならない時****。** (And now our song when we have to go our separate ways)," he said sadly and hugged her tightly now. She returned the hug, tight as his own, "You idiot," she said softly, "Now why do have to bring that up? Let's just enjoy our time together," she added just as softly.

Shinji inhaled her hair's scent, "I know. I'm sorry, but with the time approaching…I just can't help but bring it up. I…I don't want to end this…end what we have," he said so quietly, only the music was heard until it ended. Asuka tightened her hug, as did her now more confident boyfriend.

After the song ended, the two got out of their embrace and reluctantly off the bed. Asuka started to grab some clothes in order to shower, Shinji thought along similar lines but she would always shower first before they would head for Amity High. Shinji headed out of the room, but not without glancing at Asuka's backside and grinned to himself. As the door closed, Asuka took a glance at the bed and the ruffled up blankets, she smiled to herself and resumed to getting her things ready. She then opened the window to ventilate the dust out of her room, as well as the musk. After a few moments, she headed for the bathroom.

Shinji heard her heading for the bathroom and he laid out his clothing for the day. He then sat on his bed and turned on his stereo. The CD "Guarda-me a vida na mão" by Ana Moura, on loan from Wilfredo began to play.

**2:52pm**

"And then I fell face down on the pavement while jogging around the neighborhood," Dante said while talking to Fatma via video chatting. He held up his elbows to show her the scrapes he received.

"Jesus! At least your fall didn't damage your pretty face," she said jokingly. She and Dante have had their moments of semi-flirting, "Oh so now I'm a pretty boy. Man I'm letting myself fall under that category," he said and continued to play along.

Fatma smirked more, "At least you're not calling me a 'hottie' or something along those lines," Dante raised an eyebrow at her comment, "Well, I was going to say that, but since you said it, that word has less meaning now," he off-handedly said with a playful smirk and she faintly smiled back.

Fatma gave a nonchalant expression, but internally she observed his face and listened on the words Dante used. Both had soft expressions written on their faces and looked at each other with a longing neither one are able to express, no matter how often they would chat online.

Dante was about to say something, but then heard Asuka from outside his locked bedroom door, "**Dante beeilen Sie sich! Wir müssen uns bei unseren Proben heute ****sein!** (Dante hurry up! We have to be at our rehearsals today!)"

"**Venendo! Fatemi avere altri due minuti!** (Coming! Just let me have two more minutes.)," he yelled and heard Asuka's reply, "**Okay. Aber keine Flirt mit Fatma zu viel mehr heute****.** (Okay. But don't flirt with Fatma too much longer today)," he heard her teasingly said. He looked at Fatma's face and faintly blushed.

"Um…" he started and rubbed the back of his head, "I'll see you tomorrow then," he wanted to continue talking to her.

"Of course and…about those scars you've shown me today," she started and Dante's face suddenly had a guilty expression, "I have to say it was brave of you to explain why you did it in the first place and how you've gotten better since then."

Dante mentioned how he received his scars on his arms due to his depression brought on by the death of his father. He also mentioned how Asuka got him to the hospital in time and how his old family reacted with fear and sadness. Fear because even after the years since he was alive, his mild form of manic depression had them on edge and wanted to see if he was going to have a hypomanic episode or a depression period.

But he didn't mention his old life of becoming a full-fledged scientist for the European Space Agency or NERV. Neither he nor his friends are ready to reveal that sort of past to the international community, even with the Turkish government backing them up if this ever reached the halls of the UN.

He then heard the door open and Asuka walked up to him, "Hello Fatma. I'm sorry, but this fool here has to come with Shinji and I to our music rehearsal," she said, nudging Dante aside a bit. He sent a death glare at her, one she completely ignored.

"It's quite all right. Dante, tomorrow at the usual time okay," she said and Dante nodded with a smile. Fatma logged out, so did Dante and he got up, grabbed his portfolio with his sheet music, headed out of his room with Asuka and walked downstairs.

"I told her about the scars," he said and Asuka just looked at him with her mouth agape, "But nothing on NERV or the EVA. I don't none of us are ready to reveal that much right now," he added, quenching her fears.

Asuka sighed, "I know you want to start something with her and…I'm not against it, but we really need to work out how the EVA affected us and what are we going to do about our new adoptive families."

"I know," Dante said quietly and both encountered Shinji waiting patiently at the front door, "Thank you," he said under his breath. Asuka smiled briefly and grabbed her violin case and clasped Shinji's right hand while his left held on the handle of his cello case. Dante looked through his portfolio and shook his shoulders to relax. Then the three headed out the door.

**Lisbon, Portugal**

**Thursday, 3:23pm**

Lucila looked through a small wooden box of weathered worn black and white photos. The faces of children who now have aged or killed during the civil war that tore her native homeland apart and the adults she knew who gotten themselves in politics, therefore set the clocks that governed their fates until the end.

Lucila then picked up a small photo of a boy, a young eleven-year-old boy with a piercing gaze and a butterfly on his head. A young girl, probably his childhood friend wrapped her arm around him. Lucila noticed a sphinx like curve of the mouth, forming a bashful smile. She looked at it for a few more moments and got off her chair. She then walked to the front door and handed the photo to Fernando, who then put the photo in the envelope. He grabbed his cane and hat and headed out the door. She opened the door and watched him walk down the hill, noticing his aura reverberate with anxiety along with a hope, a hope that his grandson along with his son's family will understand.

Fernando headed down the cobbled stoned walkway before reaching the street that led down to the post office. He clutched his letter in his jacket while carrying a cane in case a stray dog decided to attack him. The gentle breeze caressed his face and swerved around his nicely place hat.

Once reaching the post office, Fernando entered the building and walked up to the short line. After a few minutes he walked up to the available window, handing the letter to the thirty something looking woman. After the process was completed, he walked out of the building. He sensed the boy in the form of black butterflies flying above in the overcast skies. He knew it was the boy, and in some ways, he was relieved that the boy has a clue to his past, with the revelation of his last name. He looked up again, albeit briefly while walking, he noticed the butterflies fluttering around and flying off and disappearing behind the buildings. Fernando breathed out his nose and continued to walk home.

Meanwhile Lucila began praying on the bed, clutching her rosary and chanting the prayers as old as time memorial. Then she began to mutter verses, verses that had a pagan quality. Verses that once could've landed her and people like her into the public eye, facing scrutiny and prejudice…her hands then glowed blood red as her chanting continued.

Fernando opened the door and went to the bedroom, where he witnessed his wife looking…as she did when the incident occurred. With her hair now a deep chestnut brown with her eyes a youthful honey brown and her body the embodiment of evanescent youth. She looked at him and noticed how looked as he did when the incident occurred as well, with his curly black hair, thick eyebrows, a body suited for carpentry, and his eyes a deep hazel.

Both smiled at each other with an expression that signaled their uncertainty on how their similarly gifted grandson will react. Then their youthful appearances slowly disintegrated and both now looked at each other's elderly faces, on how time ate their bodies away, but their souls still youthful with energy and scarred by horrific events they witnessed.

**Week three, Sunday**

**Fairmount Park, Belmont Plateau, 3:01pm**

Wilfredo lipped synched with one of his favorite songs, "WP" by Matisyahu as he took pictures of the surrounding pasture and the scattered trees and the downtown skyline in the distance. He promised to take some pictures of the city for Shinji, Asuka, and Dante so they can have something to remember before they leave next week. As he adjusted his backpack a bit and decided to set down for a minute, after carrying his newly bought books and new laptop his shoulders ached. He aired his torso while tugging at his collar of his black t-shirt. He also wore blue jeans and his favorite classic Converse shoes. He stretched out his arms and observed the park. The picnicking families in the distance was nothing out of the ordinary and the gentle summer breeze relaxed his nerves, until two figures flew passed him, collided and landed some distance away on the grass.

"Whoa did you see that Gwen? A ghost kid fighting a monster," a boy with green eyes clutching his soccer ball under his left arm looked at the scene unfolding across the grass. His cousin and his grandpa looked at the fight going on and noticed Danny getting his ass handled.

"Come on dude! You can do it," the boy yelled in encouragement but his cousin hit his arm hard, "You idiot! That thing is going to hear us," she said in a harsh hushed tone of voice. Danny was pinned to the ground by the ghost who looked strangely like Anamnesis from nearly a month and a half earlier, but it wasn't intelligent enough to carry a conversation. It was his run of the mill, violent ghost.

Just as the ghost was about to strike, an energy blast struck its head. The ghost yelled in pain, this gave Danny a chance to kick it back and had the ghost fall on its back. Danny saw Wilfredo running towards him, "You okay," he asked and helped Danny up.

"What are you doing here," he asked cellist, who held up his camera, "Taking pictures for Shinji, Asuka, and Dante. You know, so they can have some photos before they have to leave next week," he said with a slight smile that also had a hint of sadness.

Before Danny could say something, the ghost groaned back up, "Jesus," Wilfredo said under his breath. Then the ghost fired a shot a shot at Wilfredo, he blocked it with his aura, but was still thrown on his ass. Danny charged forward and pinned the ghost back to the ground and the fighting turned nasty.

Wilfredo got up groggily, "Hey are you all right," he heard a boy coming his way, "Yeah," Wil replied. He sat back up and began to open and search his backpack.

"What are you looking for," a girl's voice sounded to his left, "Something that could help," he said while searching for something. Then he heard an older man's voice coming from behind, "Ben! Gwen! Don't run off like that!"

"Sorry grandpa," the two kids apologized, "Young man are you all right," the older man asked. Wilfredo looked behind him, clutching his grandfather's rosary. He noticed two twelve year olds with vibrant green eyes and a sixty-something man with a tacky Hawaiian shirt.

"I'm fine," he looked at the rosary and decided to put it back in the backpack. He instead took out a pendant with the image of _**La Madonna**_; he then put it in his pocket. He got up and brushed off the grass and dirt off his body, "Can you watch my bag and camera for me," he asked the man. The man nodded and Wilfredo ran to Danny…

"Shit!" Danny gasped as the ghost began to strangle him, it opened its eyes and Danny felt his mind buzzing and his head becoming numb. He felt light headed and his eyes began to roll back into his head. As the ghost was about to strike Danny's chest with his hand, Wilfredo tackled him to the ground, forcing the ghost to let go of Danny's neck.

Danny then felt his senses coming back. He slowly sat up and his vision was clouded by static. He blinked several times, coughed to get his breath back, and his vision returned, only to see Wilfredo pinning the ghost to the ground by the head. He noticed his aura glowing a vibrant blood red. He got up and quietly walked up to them, he knelt down and noticed Wilfredo's eyes glowing menacingly. His look reminded him of what happened last year when they fought Vlad in his mansion's laboratory. But the difference was the aura was more concentrated rather than spread out like last time, similar to the fight with Anamnesis.

He then heard the ghost gasping for breath and passed out, Wilfredo slowly got up and looked at Danny. His eyes returned to normal, "Danny do you have the thermos," Wilfredo asked hoarsely.

"Yeah," he said as he got it from his waist and opened it. He pressed the button and the ghost was sucked in. He immediately closed the thermos and returned his attention to Wilfredo. He looked at Wil who breathed a bit heavily and noticed his aura still on edge. After a few moments he calmed down.

"Thanks," Danny said with gratitude, "You're welcome and…three more people found out," Wilfredo said sounding fatigued and cracked his neck to relieve some tension.

"Meaning…what exactly," Danny asked with a curious expression, "Well, one you're back to normal," Danny looked at himself and chuckled a bit as he rubbed the back of his head, "And second," Wil continued, "Those three tourists watched the whole thing."

Danny looked behind him and noticed the old man with his grandkids. He went over to them and explained what happened. Wilfredo smiled a bit at the sight, especially when the kid Ben asked if Danny could transform. Danny complied and transformed into his superhero form and levitated off the ground for good measure. Wil put his headphones back in his ears and the iPod was now playing "Chop Suey" by System of a Down.

He rocked to the bit for a minute or so until the song ended. He turned off the iPod and stuffed it in his pocket. He walked up to the group, asking Danny questions about his powers.

"That was awesome the fight Danny," Ben exclaimed, a good way to start his summer vacation on the East Coast, "Thanks, but you see, if it wasn't for Wil here, I would've been done for," Danny said semi-abashed and Wil stood there blushing slightly.

Wil breathed in and out, "I didn't really do much…" he said under his breath, "Nonsense, the way you risked yourself to help out a friend is very admirable," the man said. His grandchildren nodded in agreement.

He then coughed a bit to relieve some of his nerves, "May have my backpack please," he asked the man who handed it back. Wil opened the zipper and put away his pendant. He shouldered his backpack and the man handed Wil back his camera, "Thanks."

Before Wilfredo could leave Danny stopped him, "Hey…are you really okay," he asked cautiously, knowing how sometimes Wil was defensive about his abilities and how they were used.

"Yeah Danny…just need to head back. Got to take the film role to Rite Aid," Wil said rather tiredly.

"Why don't we give you two a ride back? As a way to give our gratitude," the man said and the two teenage boys looked at him and the two kids. They smiled and agreed, "Sure. Thanks."

"Oh I almost forgot to introduce myself, my name is Max. Max Tennyson," he outstretched his hand. Danny shook it, followed by Wilfredo, "These two are my grandkids, Ben and Gwen," the two kids also shook Danny and Wil's hands in politeness.

"Nice to meet you," Danny transformed back to normal, "I'm Danny Fenton by the way," he introduced himself and shook their hands.

Followed by Wil who also shook their hands, "And I'm Wilfredo Pereira."

The ride back to Amity in the Max's RV was a bit rough, considering how old it was. Wilfredo talked to Max on how they got to Philadelphia from their small town of Bellwood, Texas. They drove for about 14 days and while the two talked, Danny continued to showcase his abilities to Ben and Gwen. In this case, showing a combination of his ectoplasmic energy infused with his ice making abilities.

As they drove, Wil turned on the radio and on one of the stations he heard Shinji's voice.

"_I want to request a song for my friends, and I hope they're listening…"_

Wilfredo immediately began texting and sent it to all his friends and the rest of the musicians in the orchestra. He looked at Danny who in turn looked at him, both had surprised and grateful looks on their faces. Actually, both didn't know how to react, they didn't think Shinji would request a song on the radio, let alone dedicate it to them.

The song began to play and Wilfredo knew immediately what it was, "King Without a Crown" by Matisyahu, a recorded performance from The Stubb's.

Danny and Wilfredo began to bob their head to the beat and to the music in general. During the music, both got up and did air guitar to the solo bit and Wil sang the last bit of the song, he noticed two cuts on Danny's neck. The song ended and resumed normal programming. Now, the radio began playing "Toxicity" by System of a Down. Max changed radio stations to stumble upon a station that played classics from the 50's, 60's, and the 70's.

Wil checked Danny's neck, "Jesus, that bastard really did a number on you," he said under his breath, "Do you have any peroxide by any chance," he asked Gwen. She nodded and searched the cabinet. She brought the bottle along with a bag of cotton balls and a few bandages.

He thanked her and both boys sat down on at the table. Ben looked at the scene as he read his Sumo Slammers manga book. Wilfredo rubbed the peroxide cotton over the cuts and Danny winced, "Come on Dan. You've been through worse...although, I could say the same thing for myself," he said.

After Wil finished cleaning the cuts, he put on the bandages. Danny thanked him and Wil threw the dirty cotton and bandage wrappers in the trash bin. As some 60's music played over the radio, Danny and Ben talked who also shared his past experiences as a hero with a watch that enabled him to transform into 10 aliens. Gwen also began sharing her magical abilities with Wilfredo who in turn, shared his. Max looked at the scene on his overview mirror; he smiled inwardly and continued driving.

Wil then looked out the window and noticed a flock of black butterflies, "Man its hot in here," Ben exclaimed and opened the window. One of the butterflies outside entered the RV and landed on the table.

Wil slowly outstretched his arms and hands over the butterfly and quickly caught it before it took off. He carefully opened his hands and the butterfly stayed on his open left palm. Unknown to the tourists, he searched to see if this was the boy in his most stable form. It was and Danny nodded in his direction, but Wil's expression told him that it was okay.

"Gwen, hold out your hand," she did so and he handed her the butterfly as gently as possible. When the butterfly landed on Gwen's hands, she immediately felt giddy, "Wow, it's so light and the wings…they feel a bit fuzzy," she said softly. She took in the sight of the insect's gently flapping wings. Then the truck stopped at a red light, but the butterflies were still adjacent to the RV.

Gwen then handed the butterfly to Ben, "Careful with it," Gwen said, "Yeah I know," he said and the butterfly landed on his open palms. He too took note of the insect's lightness and fuzzy wings. Then in a moment it flew back onto the table. None of them dared to make a move in order to not frighten the butterfly. Then when the RV began to move, the butterfly fluttered back outside and rejoined the flock outside. The flock flew beside the RV until it disappeared behind one of the passing apartment buildings.

Twenty-five minutes passed and Danny along with Wilfredo arrived back in the Amity district. The three tourists said their goodbyes and headed off to enjoy the rest of their summer vacation. The two looked at each other and gave a grimaced smile, signaling that although things improved, both have issues with one another to work out. Then they went their separate ways, Danny flew to Sam's home and Wilfredo walked to the nearest Rite Aid.

**Monday, 5:12pm**

**Wilfredo's apartment building**

Wilfredo opened the front door of his apartment and checked his family's apartment mailbox. He noticed a small package and a letter addressed to him, both were from his grandparents; then he stuffed the two into his backpack and headed for the elevator.

Moments later he arrived at his floor and headed inside his home. He scanned around the home and his parents weren't home yet today. He headed for his room and locked the bedroom door. He set his violoncello case down beside his bed and headed for his desk. He carefully opened the letter with a letter opening knife…he began reading:

**Nosso querido neto,**

**Por esta altura, esta carta já deve ter chegado ás tuas mãos. A tua avó Lucila mandou também uma encomenda com coisas que achamos que tu e a tua família vão gostar. O rapaz que conheces teve história connosco. Ele pode ou não ter mencionado isto. Em 1938, a tua avó e eu estávamos a fugir de um massacre que aconteceu numa zona rural nos arredores de Barcelona. Depois de nos afastarmos o suficiente de Barcelona, embarcámos num comboio que nos levou a Sevilha, mas sabíamos que era perigoso ficar no país durante muito tempo. Mesmo a minha cidade natal de Lisboa era perigosa por causa de Salazar. Já sabes um pouco desta história, mas deixa-me explicar-te melhor sobre o rapaz...**

**Não me consigo lembrar do nome dele, mas lembro-me do apelido. O apelido dele era Campa. Quando eu e a tua avó Lucila o conhecemos, soubemos logo que o rapaz tinha habilidades como as nossas, mas havia algo em relação a ele que tinha uma sensação estranhamente familiar, como se ele comunicasse com os nossos antepassados sem entrar no transe que ocorre normalmente... os seus olhos fixaram o vazio enquanto nós sentimos a sua pulsação abrandar de tal forma que parecia que tinha parado. Quando esses transes ocorriam, pequenas borboletas negras apareciam e pousavam à volta da casa. A Lucila tirou uma foto do rapaz no dia anterior ao massacre; Fascistas espanhóis, que suspeitavam que a família e a aldeia albergavam Comunistas e simpatizantes comunistas, mataram-no. Ele e alguns soldados forma mortos no massacre que consumiu a aldeia.**

**Tudo o que veio depois disto tu e os teus já sabem. Não guardes rancor ao rapaz ou ao que lhe possa ter acontecido que te incluiu a ti e aos teus amigos (ele contou-nos acerca dos estranhos acontecimentos que ocorreram na tua cidade). Comunica mais, não só com a tua família mas também com os teus amigos.**

**Espero que gostes das nossas lembranças.**

**Dos teus queridos avós,**

**Fernando Pereira da Silva e Lucila Velasquez.**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Our dearest grandson,<strong>_

_**By now, our letter has reached your shores. Lucila has also sent a package with things that we felt you and your family will enjoy. Okay, the boy you have become familiar with by now has history with the both of us. He may or may not have mentioned this truth. In 1938, Lucila and I were fleeing from a massacre that took place in the country surrounding Barcelona. After running far enough from Barcelona, we boarded a train that would take us to Seville, but we knew staying long in the country would be risky. Even in my native home of Lisbon was risky due to Salazar. Some of this you already know. So let me enlighten you on the boy…**_

_**The boy's name I cannot recall, but I do remember his last name. His last name was Campa. Upon meeting him along with Lucila, we both knew this young boy had abilities like our own, but there was something about him that felt eerily familiar, as if he communicated with our parents without going into the standard trance…his eyes stared into space as we felt his pulse slow down to a near halt. And when those trances occurred, small black butterflies would appear and land around the house. Lucila took a photo of the boy on the day before the massacre occurred; Spanish Fascists, who suspected the family and the village of harboring Communists and communist sympathizers, killed him. He and a few soldiers and were killed in the massacre which consumed the village.**_

_**Everything that followed you and the rest of our family know already. Don't harbor feelings of anger towards the boy or what might've happened to him that included you and your friends (he's told us of the interesting incidences that has occurred in your city). Communicate more, not just with your family but with your friends as well.**_

_**Hope you like our gifts.**_

_**From your loving grandparents,**_

_**Fernando Pereira da Silva and Lucila Velasquez**_

* * *

><p>Wilfredo read the letter again and once more in order to let the revelation seep into his brain. He clenched his grandfather's rosary and slowly breathed in order to calm down. He then focused on the package and took out a few things that were in there; most of the things were Portuguese brands that are replaced by well-known international brands.<p>

The first thing he held was a toothpaste called **COUTO**, a bottle of cologne called **MUSGO REAL**, a bag of chocolates **CHOCOLATES ARCÁDIA** a bag of ground coffee **Café a Brasileira**, and a few more things from a store/commercial museum in Lisbon, Portugal.

Wilfredo smiled to himself, "Oh yeah, these things are really going to make my family really homesick," he said quietly to himself and let the noises of traffic from the streets below fill the room.

He picked up the photo of the Campa boy and looked at it, "Really homesick."

He got up and went to put the things away so his parents could see. He didn't want to tell them about the letter. However, he also assumed his grandparents called ahead of time to his parents while he was out with his friends. Whether that occurred or not, he didn't care. The only thing that came to mind were lines of poetry by Fernando Pessoa from a segment of poems "**Isto**".

_**Houve uma m**__**ú**__**sica finda**_

_**Quando acordei de a sonhar.**_

_**Mas n**__**ã**__**o morreu: dura ainda**_

_**No que me faz n**__**ã**__**o pensar.**_

Those lines of poetry he still remembers when he first visited his grandfather as a young boy who just began to learn the cello.

**Week Four, Friday**

**Amity High, Auditorium, 11:45am**

With the opening ceremony done and the seniors taking their seats near the front of the school auditorium, Professor Moradi's orchestra takes the stage. The musicians made last minute tuning to their instruments and Dante and two other students rolled out the box organ. Then the professor came on stage, greeting him and the musicians with applause. The young gifted musicians bowed to their audience and took their seats.

Their sheet music was ready and the students were at the ready. The piece Moradi chose for the graduation ceremony was **Concerto in G Minor RV 576, 'dedicato a Sua Altezza Reale di Sassonia'** by **Antonio Vivaldi**.

When the piece started, everyone just stared at the musicians' technical prowess and their increasing use of emotional colors. The allegro was expected, vivacious and powerful. The difference in this performance was the presence of recorders, bassoons and oboes in this piece. He's use more woodwind players in the past, but not with recorder players. It was a nice change of pace for the audience and when the Larghetto movement started, it was slow, but it had power, something the students and their parents were beginning to realize. Realize that Vivaldi was more than just the Four Seasons, especially when they noticed some musicians with expressions as if they were on the verge of tears. And when the third movement started, they immediately knew what Moradi was playing for the coming school year. The musicians caught the scent of his overall plan, but solely concentrated on the music at hand. Never during the entire year had they played a piece with so much color and emotions, it was overwhelming in a good way.

The former Children through out the piece remembered their lives with vivid clarity and from that put it into their playing. Asuka had a angry and sad expression as she played, Shinji had tears coming down from his eyes for nearly the piece's entirety and Dante had his eyes rolled back into his head during the aggressive and melancholic parts.

Wilfredo as he played could recall his family's reactions when he told them everything about the boy, the man and his grandparents' letter with the care package. A mixture of shock, frustration, **saudades**, and a sort of acceptance with his abilities and how he helped out his friends at the cost of his own sanity. He wasn't ashamed anymore. His attitude towards the former Children had changed as well, especially when acknowledging their pasts and how their powers came with a heavy price. But they weren't victims now and they weren't going to let it happen to themselves again.

When the piece finished the seniors, their parents, and everyone else in the auditorium gave a standing ovation, the first for the orchestra. The musicians looked satisfied with the performance and stood up in order to take their bow and waved to the audience.

**1:03pm**

**Amity Park**

The families of the musicians gathered at a potluck where each family brought a dish or dessert for the festivities. Moradi took care of the drinks with tea or Guaraná soda. Most of the musicians split into their own respective circles of friends, Wilfredo and his friends sat with the former Children in a circle of seven. Danny and his friends were also invited, as well as their parents.

The music that played ranged from Hamza El Din, Ana Moura, a collection cumbia, reggae-ton, dub-step, salsa, and various songs from the Top 40.

After lunch, the musicians either took naps on the hammocks put up by the parents or played football (soccer), working off the lunch with their excessive energy. It was a makeshift match between the Latino/international musicians and the white musicians. Putting the dubious racial and economic standings aside, they mainly put their foot forward on kicking the shit out of the ball…everyone loved it.

The parents talked amongst themselves as well to the professor, thanking him and commenting each other's children and their extraordinary talent in the baroque repertoire. Moradi also talked to his wife and daughter on their thoughts of this year and what to expect next year for the orchestra. They talked on things ranging from the repertoire (how it should expand to other composers on not just focusing on Vivaldi or the Italians), whether or not a new international performance are in the cards, and most of all they talked about the benefits Zane's website for the orchestra (he reminded himself to thank him when their afternoon luncheon ends).

Around 3:12pm or so, they began to clean up and getting ready to return to their homes. The former Children decided to hang out with Wil and his friends for a while longer, after all, the three were leaving on Saturday…

**Saturday, 6:55pm**

The three former Children waited for their flights to Hamburg (8:00pm), Buenos Aires (9:45pm), and Kyoto (11:00pm). Hours earlier, the three headed for their respective embassies in order to talk to their new adoptive families over the phone. Their conversations were civil at best and their new families sounded genuine over the phone. There was still uncertainty, but mostly from nerves, from elation on the fact that they're about to continue their new lives.

Hours before that, the three said their goodbyes to Danny and his friends and families, and also to their even closer musician friends. It was a tearful goodbye, but the three reassured they are still part of the orchestra. The musicians were worried about the time differences, but the three assured them that the issue of time won't be an issue. The only issue is the website, whether or not the school's computers had enough memory and speed for their needs. Zane assured everyone that Tucker has agreed to help out and install equipment and update the computers when needed. For everyone, this act alone served as a concrete bridge between the two sides.

For nearly an hour, Asuka surfed the Internet on her laptop until her gate announced that the plane for Hamburg, Germany has started boarding. She got up and grabbed her backpack.

"This is it," she said to the two boys. Dante was the first to hug his longtime friend, "**Prenditi cura di me ed e-mail non appena la testa per la vostra ****nuova casa.** (Take care and email me as soon as you head for your new home.)," he told Asuka.

She looked at him, "**Und Sie tun das gleiche ****in Ordnung.** (And you do the same all right.)," she said, noticing her voice shook a bit. Dante nodded and felt his lower lip quiver slightly.

Asuka then turned to Shinji. Both of them didn't utter a word to each other when they arrived at the terminal. Then he caught her by surprise in a desperate, but loving embrace. She returned the embrace as tightly as she could, "My God…to think that more than a year since we met…and now we act as lovesick lovers," Shinji chuckled a bit at her comment, "How did that happen," she laughed a bit as well, at the strangeness of their relationship. She then felt butterfly kisses on her neck, and then it ceased.

Shinji sniffed her scent at the base of her neck and caressed her hair, "I don't know, but I don't care. I'm glad we ended up as we are now…completely screwed up with casts and signatures."

She laughed at his metaphor, and the two reluctantly let go of each other. She looked at them and felt tears forming at the corners of her eyes, "**Verdammt noch mal. Ich habe geschworen, nicht zu emotional heute****.** (Damn it. I swore I wouldn't get too emotional today.)," she chuckled and wiped the tears away. She looked at them once more, then grabbed her suitcase, as well as her violin case and headed for the check in desk. The two boys watched until she went inside the gate leading to her plane. Twenty minutes passed and the boys now sat at the window, watching the plane leaving the terminal and making its way down the runway. As the plane took off, the boys felt the vibration on the windows. It made them feel alive somehow.

Nearly an hour passed until Dante's gate announced its flight was boarding for Buenos Aires, Argentina. Dante got up, grabbed his backpack and hugged Shinji, "**幸運の男と...そして、再び人にお互いを見****たいと思っています。** (Good luck man and…and hope to see each other in person again.)," he said, barely able to control the unsteadiness of his voice.

"**あまりにも私と...そして私はアスカに再びを参照してください****期待しています。** (Me too and…and I hope I see Asuka again.)," Shinji said and felt tears forming at the corners of his eyes, "**くそー****。** (Damn.)," he chuckled and Dante knelt forward to kiss his cheeks. Before, Shinji would have squirmed from such a friendly gesture, but not anymore. He returned the favor.

Dante sighed and grabbed his suitcase. His harpsichord was sent ahead of time so it could arrive a few hours ahead of him. He headed for his gate and Shinji watched until he too disappeared down the tunnel. After thirty minutes, the plane was down the runway and headed off into the night. He too felt the vibration of takeoff, and now he was alone. Heaviness formed in his chest…

By the time 10:40pm came around, Shinji was nearly half asleep with his iPod on low volume so he could hear his gate announcing the plane is ready for take off. At first, he was nervous about getting up. But his body was acting on its own, sending messages to his brain that the decision was final and cannot be undone.

As he picked up his backpack, a thought came to mind, _'**我々は、これを行うための利己的ですか？ **(Are we selfish for doing this?),' _but he quickly shook the thought away. He grabbed his backpack and suitcase. His cello case was already in the plane's luggage compartment. He took out his passport and ticket. The woman at the desk checked things out and once everything was clear, he proceeded down the tunnel leading up to the plane. He greeted the flight attendants and headed for his seat in economy class. His seat was the window seat and once he sat down he continued to listen to his iPod. He didn't pay attention that other passengers sat next to him.

After what seemed life twenty or thirty minutes, he felt the plane shake a bit as it moved away from the gate and terminal. Then the plane headed for the runway, preparing for take off. Once staring down the runway, the plane then roared up its engines and sped down the tarmac. Then once it reached significant speed, Shinji felt heaviness in his legs as the plane taking off into the dark night. As it continued to climb in altitude, the plane tilted to the left and Shinji was able to see all the lights of Philadelphia down below. To think months earlier, he and his two comrades arrived shaken up from what had happened to them. Averting Third Impact, surviving the rampage of the Mass Produced EVAs and surviving from their wounds. But now, leaving Philadelphia brought up a sense of relief, a relief that things will get better.

Then the plane leveled off and continued to climb into the night sky, his ears long since popped. After many hours of waiting, he simply dozed off, sleeping the night away…until the flight attendant offered drinks and dinner. He complied to eat and drink, but once finished he slept like the dead, dreaming of things where he walked down the beach and the waves wetting his feet.

**This ended up longer than the last chapter and took longer to update due to classwork and trying to sign up for classes for the Spring Quarter. The products mentioned after the letter are from a store I found on video on current . com called 'Ode to a Toothpaste' where it shows a store/commercial museum called Uma Casa Portuguesa (now called A Vida Portuguesa). I would like to thank HolyDragoon again for his help on translating the letter into Portuguese.**

**The piece by Antonio Vivaldi came from the album Concerti Per Mandolini/Concerti con Molti Strumenti. Performed by the ensemble Europa Galante, conducted by its founder Fabio Biondi.**

**Anyway, this story is nearly at an end with one chapter left. So read, review, critique and I'll see you next time.**


	9. July 2005

**LES MUSICIENS**

**2005**

**A Crossover Story**

**This chapter was inspired by the track "El Viaje" from the Mar Adentro soundtrack. Signaling the long journey for the characters now separated across the globe but united by the music they play, their unique friendship and the destiny they set for themselves. As well as "Breathing Soul" from the soundtrack to BABEL, which basically is the counterpoint to the sense of destiny following their separation.**

**This chapter will be the most multi-lingual chapter to date, a mixture of Japanese, German, Spanish, Italian, English, and Portuguese. Symbolizing the upcoming second story for arc one, a global perspective continuing on what I started here.**

**I would like to thank the readers who have stuck with me so far and hope you will continue to read what's coming up in this saga. When I started this, I didn't think I have the talent to pull this off, but as I continued to write…maybe I could. There's no turning back now…the world is at the doorway.**

**Chapter Eight**

**July, week two**

**Kyoto, Japan**

**Sunday, 12:56pm**

Shinji tuned his baroque violoncello and sat down in front of a camera that's linked up to his computer, and made a small adjustment to the microphone. With permission from his new parents, he was allowed to perform online with Moradi's orchestra in Philadelphia. On the other two pop up windows, Dante was there from Buenos Aires, checking if his harpsichord is in shape and Asuka from Hamburg tuning her violin.

Shinji finished tuning and turned to the monitor, "**さて、私はこの終わりの準備ができています。 **(Okay I'm ready at this end)," he said, ready for another piece of music under Moradi's satanic control.

"**Das bin ich** (So am I)," Asuka confirmed her readiness as well with a yawn, "**Anche a me**(Me too)," Dante said while yawning and hyped up.

Shinji smiled and before he could get out his printed sheet music, his bedroom door opened and his adoptive mom, Mitsuko Neya entered.

"**こんにちは息子、私はあなたが何をやっていると思いまして。** (Hello son, I was wondering what you're doing)," she asked as she looked at the setup in his bedroom. She also noticed two foreign teenagers on his monitor, but then she realized the two of them, "**あなたは、飛鳥とダンテでなければなりません。私は右だ？** (You must be Asuka and Dante. Am I right?)," she asked curiously.

The two blushed slightly, "**はい。はい私です。** (Yes. Yes we are)," both Asuka and Dante said in unison.

"**これは三人米国での一部であったオーケストラの一部ですか？ **(Is this part of the orchestra you three were a part of in the States?)," Shinji's adoptive mom asked, "**ええ、それは****...****私たちは、あなたや他の二つのを邪魔するつもりですか？ **(Yeah it is…are we going to disturb you or the other two)," Shinji asked in consideration for his new family.

She nodded a no and kept her smile, "**もちろん、私はあなたの子供がプレイしようとしている音楽のどの部分に興味がありません。** (Of course not, but I am curious on what piece of music you kids are about to play)," she said and her older son walked in to see what's going on. He didn't disturb the scene though…

"**大きなアレッサンドロスカルラッティによる作品を演奏しました！** (Were playing a piece by the great **Alessandro Scarlatti**)," Dante declared on the monitor, "**作品としては、それは****C****マイナーのコンチェルト****·****グロッソ第****2****番です。**(As for the piece, it's **Concerto Grosso No.2 in C Minor**.)"

"**アレッサンドロ****·****スカルラッティ？ 私は私が今まで彼のことを聞いたことがないと思います。** (Alessandro Scarlatti? I don't think I've ever heard of him)," Shinji's adoptive mom said, "**彼はイタリアのバロックの巨人の一つです！** (He's one of the giants of the Italian Baroque!)," Dante said enthusiastically.

"**Und er starb völlig verarmt.** (And he died a pauper)," Asuka said in a deadpan manner. Dante glared at her, "**Non ho bisogno di rivelare che i dettagli sensibili Asuka.** (I don't need you to reveal that sensitive detail Asuka.)"

She stuck out her tongue and proceeded to take out her sheet music. Then another pop up window came on and it was the orchestra. Moradi was adjusting the sheet music on the music staff and the other musicians were getting ready. Shinji noticed Wilfredo, Alberto, Gilberto, and Zane tuning their instruments. His four American friends looked at the main camera and waved hello. Shinji smiled and noticed Professor Mohammad Moradi looking at the camera, "You three are you ready?"

Shinji, Asuka, and Dante nodded happily, "Yes professor."

He then went in front of the orchestra and raised his arms. Shinji was ready and his adoptive mom noticed how focused his expression was. Then the music started and to say his mom and older brother were astonished would be an understatement. She also took a closer look at Shinji's cello and noticed how its baroque features were a bit different from its modern equivalent. She also noticed the musicians' instruments, similarly constructed and noticed Alberto's theorbo. Also noticed Dante playing on the harpsichord and had the box organ beside him, ready for the second and third movements.

The entire concert was filmed live by the film club, who recently bought new digital cameras in order to give the performance high quality resolution. Microphones were placed around the orchestra in order to give the audio a natural sound. The new cameras and microphones were sent to the former Children as gifts a few days earlier. They were grateful and confident about this new setup, but still had doubts that it will continue in the long run.

* * *

><p>The first movement basically showcased the musicians' talents and the families for the Children sat beside them, enjoying the music produced by the teenagers. Shinji kept up with Wilfredo, Asuka kept up with the violinists and Dante played his part in accompaniment with the cellists and bassists.<p>

When the second movement started, Dante switched to the box organ and immediately, the mood changed. It was expressionist to the core and since this was a live performance for the orchestra in Philadelphia, the audience sat in awe of the quasi-Catholic vibe of the second movement. For a few, they felt the love of death as depicted in Catholic art, with Jesus sacrificing his life for the greater good. For the rest however, the movement proved how this emerging youth orchestra is taking no prisoners, showing their best and challenging themselves on difficult, but overall beautiful pieces of music.

The third movement commenced and it showcased how Gilberto and Asuka showed off their talents when their solo parts came on. Everyone else followed their parts to the last note, keeping a jovial tone to the movement, a contrast to the second's somber tone. As the piece finished, everyone in the audience of Amity High's auditorium clapped.

* * *

><p>Shinji looked at his friends who were gathering their things and preparing to head home, "<strong>来週君たちを参照してください。<strong> (See you guys next week)," Shinji said and the others promised they would. After all, being part of an orchestra now, they have obligations to keep. But for the Children, it was something worth putting time in.

Dante logged out, followed by the orchestra in Philadelphia. Asuka stayed online a bit longer to properly send her regards to her now long-distance boyfriend. He bid his farewell and both logged out. He put away his cello while looking at his new mom and older brother who were proud of him.

He smiled sheepishly, "**それは本当に何もありません。私はただ音楽を演奏大好きです。 **(It's nothing really. I just love playing music)," he said as he closed up his case. He then heard a snicker coming from his bedroom's doorway, "**私はあなたの才能は何も、シンジを呼び出すことはありません。しかし、私はこれを言うだろう、あなたとあなたの友人は多くないが持っているものを持っています。 **(I wouldn't call your talent nothing, Shinji. But I would say this, you and your friends have something not many have.)" His older brother Haruki said.

Shinji looked at him and gave a thankful smile, "**ありがとうございます。** (Thank you)," he said and felt his new mom's hand on his right shoulder, "**に来る。レッツは、いくつかのランチ、息子を持っています。** (Come on. Let's have some lunch, son.)"

He looked at her and immediately smiled, "**大丈夫。** (Okay)," he got up and headed out the door with his new older brother and mom. He lives in the **Sakyō-ku** ward of Kyoto with a mom, an older brother and a father who's a professor of Sociology at Kyoto University.

When his first week in Kyoto, he immediately had flashbacks of moments where Kyoto had thousands of refugees from Latin America, Korea, China and Vietnam. He remembered areas that were once inhabited by refugees were slums now were just regular neighborhoods. During that week, he had a morbid sense of nostalgia for the years following Second Impact. At first he attributed his nostalgia to PTSD, suffering all those without a family, thrust into fighting the Angels in mechanized units, and now, in a reality where he and his friends are slowly but surely getting back their bearings…a strange twist in their already fucked up lives.

Shinji sat at the table eating lunch with his new family and already felt at peace, "**シンジ、私は数分前に自分の部屋から音楽が聞こえてきた。あなたがチェロを演奏していることでしたか？** (Shinji, I heard music coming from your room a few minutes ago. Was that you playing the cello?)," his father, Takuya Manabe asked.

Shinji looked at him and had an abashed expression, "**うん。我々は、アレッサンドロ****·****スカルラッティによって作品を遊んでいた。 **(Yeah. We were playing a piece by Alessandro Scarlatti)," he said and continued eating.

"**我々は？** (We?)"

"**うん。** (Yeah)," he took a sip of water, "**私のドイツとアルゼンチンの友人と私はフィラデルフィアとのと知り合いになったオーケストラとのコラボレーション、我々は友人となり、何らかの形で、我々はオーケストラのメンバーとなった。** (My friends in in Germany and Argentina and I collaborate with an orchestra we became acquainted with in Philadelphia and, we became friends and somehow, we became members of the orchestra.)"

His father looked at him with knowing respect as well as his mother and brother. His father cleared his throat, "**まあ、関係なく、オーケストラのメンバーになった方法の、音楽は美しかった。**(Well, regardless of how you became an orchestra member, the music was beautiful.)"

"**ありがとうございました。** (Thanks)," Shinji blushed at the compliment. His new father wasn't really affectionate outwardly, but he knew he did show love unlike his biological father, "**しかし、あなたは本当にムハンマド****Moradi****に感謝しなければならない。彼は本当にこのレパートリーを実行する際に私たちの才能を開発しました。** (But you really have to thank Mohammad Moradi. He really developed our talent in performing this repertoire.)"

His brother finished eating and looked at him, "**なぜ我々はどこかに後でたむろ行きませんか？ここで長い間の周りされていないので、秋が来るときに学校がどこにあるか、私はあなたを見ることができます。 **(Why don't we go hangout somewhere later? Since you haven't been around here long, I can show you where the school is when fall comes around.)," he offered. Shinji nodded a yes.

"**あなただけので、深夜に帰って来たことを言っている。** (You're just saying that so you could come home around midnight.)," his mom fired back, "**それはかつてだったと私は****'****違法****'****何もしませんでした。** (It was once and I didn't do anything 'illegal'.)," he defended himself, "**私はちょうど市の間の時間のトラックを失った。** (I just lost track of time while in the city)," he added with the shrug of his shoulders.

"**私はあなたのガールフレンドの家に向かい、深夜まで戻らなかったその夜に思い出すように見える。** (I seem to recall on that evening you headed for your girlfriend's house and didn't return until midnight)," his father revealed. He gave a subtle, wolfish grin to his son, who just glared back at him.

"**春樹！あなたはしませんでした！** (Haruki! You didn't!)," his mom surprised at the sudden news. Haruki just blushed intensely and stammered, "**N-****無****お母さん！ ****我々は、ちょうどええと****...****ええと****...****お父さん！ **(N-No mom! We just uh…uh…Dad!)"

Shinji watched their moment together and just smiled to himself. He even chuckled a bit. Haruki however heard Shinji, "**ああ面白いことだと思う？ね？面白い **(Oh you think that's funny? Funny huh?)," he got up, wrapped his left arm around his neck and playfully rubbed his fist on his head, "**それは碇、今面白いです！** (Is it funny now Ikari)," he laughed and so did Shinji.

"**春樹！このナンセンスを停止します！**(Haruki! Stop this nonsense)," she got up and attempted to get Haruki off of Shinji. The father just watched from the table and noticed Shinji had a happy expression.

After eating lunch, he changed into a pair of slim fit jeans, a black shirt and a white long sleeved shirt to go over it. He picked up his phone and decided to send Asuka a text.

[**アスカ****...****あなたが今日美味しそうでした。****;)**]

{[Asuka…you looked good today ;)]}

He closed his phone, headed for the front door, put on his white sneakers and headed out with his older brother.

**Hamburg, Germany**

**5:20am**

Asuka put away her violin and her sheet music. She then received an incoming text message. She flipped open her phone and it was from Shinji. She read it and smiled so she sent a reply.

[**Danke. Sie sah gut aus sich selbst Ikari ;)**]

[Thank you. You looked good yourself Ikari ;)]

She was thankful her new home had a soundproof room so she could perform the piece with her friends across continents and across oceans. She yawned due to waking up ridiculously early, but she had so much energy for performing, she didn't care. As she exited the room she encountered her new mother, Angela Mercier in the kitchen. She is a professor of Musicology at the University of Hamburg. Both live in the **Harburg** borough.

Since coming to Hamburg, Asuka couldn't help but recount the times where her mother went to NERV for her research. Also the times where the huge water gates kept the high sea levels at bay near the port whenever high tide occurs or when a storm occurred. A morbid nostalgia filled her mind as she ventured around the city with her mom. Her husband separated from her a year prior due to an infidelity on his part and was now dating someone who was a colleague at the university, the Dean of the Sociology Department.

Asuka sat down and her mom noticed, "**Wie war die Leistung Asuka? **(How was the performance Asuka?)," she asked.

She set down the violin case on the table, "**Es war gut. Obwohl, ich fange an, dieses Setup der Durchführung in verschiedenen Zeitzonen zu realisieren wird sich das bessere von uns bekommen. Ich kann Schlaflosigkeit und dunkle Ringe um die Augen sehen, bis Ende dieses Monats.** (It was good. Although, I'm starting to realize this setup of performing in different time zones is going to get the better of us. I can see insomnia and dark circles around our eyes by the end of this month)," she sarcastically remarked. But it came from a concerned place, not know how the orchestra in the States is going to survive with this new setup.

Her mom raised an eyebrow at Asuka's remark, "**Nun, es ist die Entscheidung, die Sie gemacht haben. Da Sie Mitglied im Orchester war, wusste, dass du es gibt einige Dinge muss man opfern könnte ... wie Schlaf und Schönheit, um nur zwei Beispiele zu nennen.**(Well, it's the decision you've made. Since you became a member in the orchestra, you knew there are some things you might have to sacrifice…like sleep and beauty, just to name two examples.)," she said and joked the last part.

Asuka chuckled a bit, "**Ja, ich nehme an. Also wie steht es mit deinem Freund? Zuletzt habe ich geprüft, kam ihr Jungs nach Hause ein bisschen spät vor ein paar Tagen.** (Yeah I suppose. So how are things with your boyfriend? Last I checked, you guys came home a tad late a few days ago.)," she asked slyly.

Her mom laughed, "**Die Dinge sind gut. Ich bin froh, die Dinge besser werden seit meiner Scheidung. Und er ist gar nicht so schlecht im Bett ich zu erzählen haben.** (Things are good. I'm glad things are getting better since my divorce. And he isn't that bad in bed I have to tell.)," she said with pride.

Asuka shook her head, "**Mutter****, ich weiß nicht wirklich brauchen, um so viel hören, aber ich bin froh, dass du glücklich bist.** (Mom, I don't really need to hear that much, but I'm glad that you're happy)," then her mom looked at her, "**Sollte ich nicht sage Ihnen dies, da Sie erhalten nur Ihre neue Pass-und ID?**(Shouldn't I be telling you this since you just obtained your new passport and ID?)"

Asuka just shook her shoulders, "**Nun sollte nicht unsere Beziehung in beide Richtungen gehen?**(Well shouldn't our relationship go both ways)," she asked rhetorically. Her mom smiled and so did she and both laughed a bit. Her mom reached out and placed her hands on top of Asuka's left hand.

She looked at her mom, "**Ich bin mir sicher, dass Sie wissen, dass Ihr Leben und das Leben Ihrer Freunde sind einzigartig. Was ich meine ist, dass was auch immer Sie Ihre Kinder am Leben zu entscheiden, mit diesem Orchester, ich weiß, es wird groß sein.**(I'm sure that you know your life and the lives of your friends are unique. What I mean is that whatever you kids decide on your lives with this orchestra, I know it's going to be great.)"

Asuka smiled a bit, "**Wir wissen nicht einmal, wie weit das Orchester gehen wird. Aber wir sind ziemlich sicher, dass seine gerade dabei, auch weiterhin ein Jugendorchester so lang sein wie Professor Moradi wird es ermöglichen, Funktion.**(We don't even know how far this orchestra is going to go. But we're pretty sure its just going to continue to be a youth orchestra as long as Professor Moradi will allow it to function.)"

Her mom just shook her head and tightened her grasp on Asuka's hand, now with just her right hand, "**Wenn Sie das sagen. Aber nicht darauf wetten.** (If you say so. But don't bet on it)," she winked and got up, "**Heute machen wir nur das nichts zu tun.**(Today we're just going to do nothing.)"

"**Nichts?** (Nothing?)"

Her mom walked passed her, "**Nichts **(Nothing)," as she headed out of the kitchen and headed back upstairs to her bedroom. Asuka sat alone for a moment longer until she got up and headed back upstairs as well, _'__**Nichts oder? Hmm, könnte ich das tun heute.**__ (Nothing huh? Hmm, I could do that today.)'_

Before she retired to her room she sent a text to Dante, not caring if he's about to collapse from sleep…or interrupt his impromptu chat with Fatma. She smiled at the thought.

[**Dante war es toll, dass Ihr erschöpfte Selbst wieder zu sehen.**]

[Dante its great to see your exhausted self again]

She slipped back into her covers and drifted off to sleep for another two hours or so. Then the sun pierced through the window waking her up, filling the room with morning light. With renewed vigor, she got up and started to get ready for the upcoming day.

**Buenos Aires, Argentina**

**12:25am**

Dante yawned, exhausted from his day of exploring the city and eating good food, he put away his sheet music and covered the harpsichord with sheet to protect it from dust and potential molds. He exited the soundproof room with his father and headed for the living room.

"**Bueno, espero que mis amigos de Philadelphia ****averiguar cómo a limpiar el**** audio.** (Well, I hope the guys in Philadelphia figure out how to clean up the audio)," Dante said thinking about the sound quality.

"**Sonaba ****suficientemente bien**** para publicar ****en el sitio ****de su orquesta. Relájese por ahora y dormir un poco.** (It sounded well enough to post on your orchestra's website. Relax for now and get some sleep)," his father said and patted Dante's shoulder.

"**Pero papá, yo no tengo ganas de dormir. Tengo ganas de charlar ****ahora**** y espero que Fatma ****está despierta y**** tal vez podríamos continuar la conversación de ayer.** (But Dad, I don't really feel like sleeping. I feel like chatting right now and I hope Fatma is awake and maybe we could continue yesterday's conversation)," he breathed and continued, "**Y sé que le gustaría hablar en este momento y ...**(And I know she would love to talk right now and…)" he then heard his father clear his throat before he could continue.

His father just smiled and turned his son around, facing the stairs, "**Vaya a la cama, dormir un rato y se puede hablar con Fatma por la mañana.** (Go to bed, get some sleep and you can talk to Fatma in the morning)," he said in a fatherly tone of voice.

"**Vale.** (Okay.)," Dante said and to his surprise he sounded like a whiny child who didn't want to go to bed. As he went upstairs, he received a text message from Asuka. He read it and texted back.

[**Grazie ei capelli ha visto giorni migliori.**]

[Thanks and your hair has seen better days.]

Ever since arriving in Buenos Aires, he remembered what his mom used to tell him as a child about her friends in Argentina and in Brazil. She even showed him photos of her travels in the two countries, with her friends and colleagues covering stories that were big at the time, in particular the hype about the upcoming Millennium. Now, being Argentina's capital, he enjoyed the city immensely. However, with the country's economy still suffering from its 2001 economic collapse, the enjoyment is tempered with the harsh reality of the mistrust for the government. He could relate since he had little trust for Italy's government, then and now. And he was glad that his new family felt the same way, despite their relative good positions. They live in **Ciudad Jardín Lomas del Palomar**, a planned community 20 kilometers away from urban Buenos Aires.

His father, Carlos Lascano, is a professor of Ethnomusicology and his mother, Rosa Copes, is a professor of Religious Studies at the University of Buenos Aires. For Dante, their professions bring back memories of his mom as a journalist and his dad an Astronomy professor. Since knowing his new parents' professions, he secretly started praying before going to bed that their fates won't be similar to what happened to his biological parents. He also has an older sister, Adriana, who is a T.A. in the Anthropology Department.

Dante changed out of his wool sweater and blue jeans and into a pair of black sweats and a white t-shirt. Taking into account of the seasonal reversal, it was winter in the city. And that meant heavy rain and strong winds. But he didn't mind, he preferred this kind of weather, it suited the mood swings he's born with. One moment calm and normal, the next active and irritable and finally, down and depressed. He looked on the scars on his arm to take into account of the danger of what happens when he lost control. He slipped into his covers and tried to fall asleep, despite the thoughts racing around in his head.

As Dante began to sleep, his dad went up to the master bedroom as well, where his wife was in bed doing some last minute grading on recent exams. She looked up and noticed her husband heading for the bathroom. After a few minutes he exited in his white t-shirt and boxers. He set down his clothes in the dirty laundry basket and put on his midnight pajamas. He slipped into the covers and scuttled close to his wife.

"**¿Cuántos exámenes te queda?**(How many exams you have left?)," he casually asked as he picked up and looked at an already graded exam, "**Once más o menos. Te lo juro, hay estudiantes anualmente que realmente no tratar de aprender o incluso prestar atención en clase.**(Eleven or so. I swear, there are students every year who don't really try to learn or even pay attention in class)," she said as she graded another exam.

"**O están completamente apático, o recuperándose de la crisis de 2001.** (Either they are completely apathetic, or reeling from the crisis of 2001)," her husband said as he continued to look at the graded exam paper and on another.

She looked at him, "**Muchos estudiantes que haría caso, pero dudo seriamente que es la única razón.** (Many students would make that case, but I seriously doubt it's the only reason)," she sighed and thankful there were only seven exams left to grade.

As she gave comments on some exams, good and bad, she decided to talk about Dante's performance, "**Entonces, ¿cómo fue el comportamiento musical?** (So how was the musical performance?)," she asked, curious on how it went.

Her husband smiled and set down the corrected exams, "**Fue excelente! Los niños jóvenes de Estados Unidos, Alemania, Japón, y nuestro hijo recién adoptado tienen talento extraordinaria en sus instrumentos respectivos.**(It was excellent! The young kids from the United States, Germany, Japan, and our newly adopted son have superb talent on their respective instruments.)"

His wife smiled and with only one exam left she graded it and put the pile of paper on the lamp table beside her. She then set down her glasses and pen, "**¿Qué tipo de instrumentos se utilizan? Sospecho instrumentos históricos, pero puedo estar equivocado.**(What kind of instruments they used? I suspect period instruments, but I may be wrong.)"

Her husband chuckled a bit, "**Supongo que vos no ha mirado en su página web. No, que utilizan instrumentos históricos y réplicas modernas de instrumentos de época. Una de las pocas orquestas juveniles que los utilizan y lo hacen con técnica avanzada. Es muy impresionante.** (I suppose you haven't looked at their website. No, they use period instruments and modern replicas of period instruments. One of the few youth orchestras that use them and do so with advanced skill. It's really impressive.)," he commented on the performance.

"**He oído Dante quería hablar con una chica llamada Fatma ****también.** (I overheard Dante wanted to talk with a girl named Fatma as well.)," his wife said, "**Oh, sí. Él realmente quería hablar con la chica, pero le dije que lo mejor sería esperar hasta mañana o más tarde un poco. Le gusta mucho la chica, pero él también nos dijo sobre su enfermedad mental y cómo se puede tener momentos de hipomanía y depresión leve.** (Oh that. He really wanted to talk to the girl, but I told him that it would be best to wait until morning or a bit later. He really likes the girl, but he's also told us about his mental illness and how he can have moments of hypomania and mild depression)," he said.

His wife sighed, "**No puedo creer su episodio de hipomanía es una duración de dos semanas. Sin embargo, a pesar de eso, él es un buen chico y él es muy apasionado por la música y la literatura.**(I can't believe his episode of hypomania is lasting two weeks. However, despite that, he's a good boy and he's really passionate about music and literature.)," she then made herself more comfortable under the blankets and turned off her lamp, "**Hablaremos más en la mañana.** (We'll talk more in the morning)," she yawned and started to sleep.

Her husband agreed and set down his glasses on the lamp table beside him. Before he settled his body, he leaned forward and kissed his wife on her forehead, "**Buenas noches, amor.** (Goodnight, love)," he said quietly and turned off his lamp.

**Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US**

**Saturday, 10:30pm**

Wilfredo and his friends got into their parents' cars and headed home for the night, eager to hang out the next day. Ever since their three foreign friends, things have settled down a bit, but they missed them a lot.

The Portuguese American sat in the back of the car, watching the lit up night pass by as he listened to "Tomorrow Never Knows" by Junior Parker. His sister Sophia sat next to her daughter Elizabeth who napped on her lap, while his cello case was in the back of the SUV. The rumbling of the car as it drove down the street had him near the brink of sleeping, until his mom decided to talk about the performance.

"**Wilfredo, como correu o concerto?** (Wilfredo, how did the piece go?)," his mom, Mariza Tavares asked, "**Correu bem, mas não sei se conseguimos seguir em frente com isto.** (It went well, but I don't know if we can pull this arrangement off)," he said tiredly.

"**Eu consigo perceber isso. Quer dizer, os teus novos amigos estão em fusos horários muito diferentes, e qualquer problema com os vossos computadores pode estagnar o vosso trabalho.** (I can see that. I mean your new friends are in very different time zones and any problem with your computers could put your performance in limbo)," Sophia said with concern, "**Eu sei disso, mas não sabemos se esta situação é permanente ou temporária.** (I know that, but we don't know if this arrangement is permanent or temporary)," Wilfredo added to his family's concerns.

"**Já se passaram duas semanas desde que os teus amigos encontraram novos lares no Japão, na Alemanha e na Argentina, certo?** (It's been two weeks since your friends have found new homes in Japan, Germany, and Argentina correct)," his father Paulo asked, "**Sim, não consigo acreditar que já passaram duas semanas.**(Yeah, I can't believe its been two weeks already)," Wilfredo said, not believing how time has flown by as it had.

He noticed his mom's face forming a soft expression on her face in the mirror, "**Tenho a certeza que as coisas vão acalmar em breve. E quem sabe, talvez o vosso professor consiga agendar outra actuação a nível internacional, como ele fez em Maio.** (I'm pretty sure things will settle out in the near future. And who knows, maybe your professor will arrange another international performance for you kids as he did in May)," she said and he felt a little better.

Wilfredo smiled at the thought, "**Talvez** (Maybe)," and sighed, "**Quem sabe, talvez o Professor Moradi tenha outros contactos ao seu dispôr.** (Who knows what other powers Moradi has in his disposal)," he added and chuckled at the thought of his professor with near supernatural powers on making things turn out all right for the orchestra.

A few minutes passed until they arrived home again. They entered and headed upstairs via the elevator. Wil's dad opened the door so they could enter. Sophia decided to stay for a month since her husband went on a research trip to Brazil, in particular to study the Candomble religion in the city of Salvador.

Wil headed to his room and locked the door behind him. He crashed on the bed with his cello beside his computer desk. He was about to sleep until his phone vibrated with an incoming text. He took out his phone from his jeans, flipped it open and noticed it was a text from Alberto.

[I wonder how the performance went?]

Wil responded with, [We'll see when we see the full video. But Zane has to edit it tomorrow]

Alberto responded back [Yeah with Dante, Shinji and Asuka's videos to put into the full vid]

Wil smiled and texted back [Right, see u tomorrow dude]

Then another text from Alberto came [Right, night ]

Wil yawned a big yawned, to the point where his jaw ached a little. It has been a long day between hanging out with his friends and helping Zane set up the cameras and microphones around the orchestra to make their first live performance video with their friends across the seas and time zones. Before shutting his phone off, he got a text from Danny.

[Do you want to hang out tomorrow? After you go to church I mean]

Wilfredo read the text twice, and then the third time. Usually, Danny doesn't text him, unless it was ghost related. However, since things have calmed down substantially since May…he texted back.

[Sure, why not. See you tomorrow]

He waited for a reply sure enough he got one.

[Right, see you]

Wil then turned off his phone and closed it. He placed it back in his jeans, took it off and proceeded until he was only wearing his white t-shirt and black boxers. He took off his socks and got under the covers. His window was open so the humidity in his room could subside.

Before sleep overtook him, he swore he noticed a butterfly perching itself on the railing of his fire escape. But when he blinked again, the butterfly wasn't there anymore. He sighed and looked up at the ceiling, thinking whether or not he'll see that Campa dude again. He positioned himself to sleep on his left side, facing the wall and finally, let sleep take over and slowly let himself slip into the arms of Morpheus, the god of sleep.

**Lisbon, Portugal**

**Sunday, 4:45am**

The Campa boy waited at the bus station that would take him near the Portuguese/Spanish border. From there he would take another bus that would take him to Madrid. Whenever an adult would come up to him, asking why he's traveling alone, he would lie by stating that he's traveling to meet up with his uncle in the country side.

While alone on the bench as the bus warmed up and seeing other passengers putting their luggage in the luggage compartment, he would look to his left and to his right to see if there were hints that the man had followed him back to the Iberian Peninsula. He stayed at the Pereira e Velasquez residence until he told them he decided to head back to Barcelona. They wanted him to stay a while longer so he could get back his bearings, but he said he'd do so wandering in the country of his birth. Since the two elders could not change his mind, they opted that once entering Spain, he would contact regularly, even offering their home as a safe house if things get difficult. He agreed to the arrangements.

Ten minutes past five and the bus roared to life, he noticed the sun just starting to rise over the hills in the distance, but it was still overall dark with the skies turning a navy blue. He boarded with his ticket on his pants pocket. The few things he's carrying are a pen, a notebook in his back pocket and Fernando's one of three pocket watches. Then the bus started to drive up the road and headed straight for the outskirts of Lisbon and from there take the A12 southeast, then cross the Tejo River through the Vasco da Gama bridge and enter the A6. His last stop is Portalegre, near the Caia River, but along the way, while crossing the Vasco da Gama, he took in the last vista of the sea.

Immediately he remembers lines of poetry by Fernando Pessoa, entitled **"Mar Portug****uês"**.

_**Valeu a pena? Tudo vale a pena**_

_**Se a alma n**__**ã**__**o **__**é**__** pequena. **_

_**Quem quer passar al**__**é**__**m do Bojador**_

_**Tem que passar al**__**é**__**m da dor.**_

_**Deus ao mar o perigo e o abismo deu,**_

_**Mas nele **__**é**__** que espelhou o c**__**é**__**u.**_

Then one of the men began to up and down the aisle asking for tickets. Once his was accepted, he decided to take a nap on the bus. Knowing it would be quite a while before arriving at the border. Before he closed his eyes and leaned back into his seat, he noticed the blinking lights of a plane heading southeast, towards the Mediterranean. The Campa boy thought for a moment where it was heading, but afterwards, he didn't care where the plane landed. He then observed the people inside the bus; the majority was tourists while the rest were people heading for towns and villages in the country.

Then drowsiness took hold and he let himself fall asleep, not caring for the jargon of Portuguese, Spanish, and English in the bus…it was noise in his ears.

**~TO BE CONTINUED~**

**This ends the first story of arc one. So I hope the jargon of different languages in this chapter didn't put off any of you readers. But for the sake of the second story of arc one, it's absolutely necessary. I also hope the time differences between the different countries would show all of you how vast the planet is and how what happens there can greatly affect our lives in ways we cannot hope to imagine.**

**The piece by Alessandro Scarlatti came from the album SCARLATTI-Concerti & Sinfonie, performed by Europa Galante under the direction of its founder Fabio Biondi. One of my favorite albums of baroque music. Also, if you want to see this performance by this ensemble, check it on Youtube, entitled A. Scarlatti-Concerto grosso n.2 en ut mineur (allegro). This will give a clearer idea on what is period performance :)**

**I used Google for the Japanese and German bit, and I have to thank HolyDragoon for the Portuguese dialogue and pointing out how to head for Spain via bus, and also for being my constant reader who has faith in this story. And I hope the multitude of languages doesn't put off readers, but for the sake of this story, it has to work like this.**

**Read, review, critique, and because this isn't technically the end, see all of you in '2006'.**


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